


Stare Decisis

by theguineapig3



Series: Guilty Until Proven Innocent [2]
Category: Slayers (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 13:56:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 60,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6331864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theguineapig3/pseuds/theguineapig3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[sequel to Guilty Until Proven Innocent] When a landslide consumes a village in the nearby country of Adessi, both Taforashia and Seyruun rush to the villagers’ aid. But with Adelaide in a tough political spot, Lina concerned about Gourry’s health, and Zelgadis stuck babysitting a lost little boy… the last thing they need is to find that there are familiar Mazoku behind all of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. On Shaky Ground

**Author's Note:**

> (You didn't think I'd forgotten about Slayers, did you?) I want to preface this fic by saying that I'm trying to be more self-indulgent with the way I write. I know that doesn't sound like a good thing, but I've found more and more as I develop my skills that the stories I feel most proud of in the end- the ones that make me smile long after I've finished writing them- are the ones I write first and foremost for myself. This is not to say that I don't take pride in such things as spelling/grammar/syntax and building a good plot. I simply seek to satisfy myself before anyone else. If I didn't think anyone else would enjoy it, I wouldn't post it, but I know there are people who do. Therefore, I'm putting it out there for others to read if they choose. If it's not for you, you're better off using your time elsewhere. But if you enjoy it- and I hope you do- I'll be working hard on it to make it the best it can be!
> 
> As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Thanks for reading!

 

" _Stare decisis et non quieta movere_ "

-Latin, to stand by decisions and not disturb the undisturbed; that is, to rely on precedent to make decisions that are in line with previous ways of thought

**1- On Shaky Ground**

_The arrival of a world-renowned celebrity in a tiny seaside village was enough to draw people from all over the region. It was quite an event for a little fishing village with an ageing population that had fewer than five inhabitants under the age of thirty. Nevertheless, the very youngest citizen of Gardenos, a fifteen-year-old boy, couldn_ _'t enjoy the sudden influx of children his own age. He was sitting against a wall, staring out at the ocean with his knees pulled in against his chest. There were groups of unfamiliar people milling about on the beach and along the sidewalk on the other side of the wall, but the boy looked so despondent, they paid him no mind and simply passed him by._

_It wasn_ _'t that he was intentionally trying to drive people away from him, but his mind was on other things. The sound of the people around him had become white noise in the background of his mind, and he almost missed the sound of someone speaking to him._

" _Are you okay?"_

_The boy lifted his head to see someone_ _'s face staring at him from over the wall. The sun was directly behind her, so he had to move in order to get a better view. He braced himself against a tuft of wildflowers growing along the edge of the wall, pulling himself to his feet as some of the white paint flaked off beneath his fingers. It was a girl, roughly his age, with bright green eyes and a beautiful, round face that was examining him in concern. His train of thought derailed as any pubescent boy's might after being deprived from contact with potential companions for so long._

" _What? Yeah, no. I mean, uh, no- yeah. I'm not, like, okay, okay, but I'm okay. Okay?"_

_The girl stared blankly for a few seconds before an amused smile spread across her face._ _"...okay. But if you're okay- even if you're not okay, okay- then why are you sitting here all by yourself?"_

" _Oh, I'm not- uh, it's just…" The boy turned his head away and hopped up to sit on the wall itself. "My grandmother is sick. We're lucky that the Red Priest came by our village, since I don't think she could have made it to somewhere else to see him…"_

_The girl leaned against the wall next to him, resting her elbows on the surface and her head in her hands._ _"So is she being seen by the Red Priest now?"_

" _I think so."_

" _Are you worried that he won't be able to heal her? You don't have faith in his power?"_

_The boy jumped off the wall and onto his feet, stumbling and losing his balance as he did so._ _"N-no, that's not it!" he exclaimed once he'd regained his footing. "It's just that I've never seen my grandmother like that! She's the village's carpenter, and the strongest woman I know. She's had accidents with tools in her workshop before, and she takes pride in knowing how to deal with it. But this one time it got infected, and… and…"_

" _I see. Your grandmother is a role model for you, and you're afraid that, even if she heals physically, there will be emotional trauma that won't heal. You don't want this to shake her confidence."_

_The boy frowned._ _"That's…"_

" _S-sorry. That's not for me to say, is it?" The girl looked away. "But maybe I can help. Is there something that might take your mind off your worries? What do you like to do?"_

" _What I like to do? You mean, as a hobby?" the boy stepped back toward her, his expression lightening a little. "I mean, I like to paint, but at a time like this-"_

" _If it makes you happy, you should do it. Your grandmother wouldn't want you sulking like this, would she?"_

" _N-no. She dislikes idleness. But I don't know what I'd paint. I just don't have any inspiration when I'm feeling like this-"_

" _Then you should find some inspiration! Something that would make your grandmother happy! Why don't we look for it together?"_

_The boy stared at her with a blank expression. His mouth opened just a little, but his thoughts were racing too fast for him to articulate anything. He started to say_ _"I'd like to look with you" but changed halfway to "that would be nice" so his statement came out jumbled together._

" _I-I'd like to look would be nice. Er, I mean, I would like to look with you- that'd be nice." He offered his hand to her with a grateful smile. "Thanks for being willing to talk to me. I'm Michael, by the way."_

_She was quick to grab his hand and pump it up and down energetically._ _"Michael… ?"_

" _Um, no last name. It's complicated. Just Michael is fine."_

" _I see. I'm Carmen, then. Just Carmen."_

_Michael couldn_ _'t help an amused giggle. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Just Carmen."_

" _Nice to meet you too, Just Michael."_

_Within a few minutes, Carmen had run off to the side of the cliff that hung over the small beach area. There was a walkway that went a short distance up the cliff, and she climbed up until she reached the highest landing, looking out over the ocean. Michael wasn_ _'t in as good physical shape as she was, and he found himself having a difficult time keeping up. He stopped a moment to catch his breath and called up to her._

" _Hey, uh… could you… slow down a little-"_

" _Look at this!"_

_The excitement in her voice was enough to drive him up the last flight of stairs, and when he reached the last landing, he was glad that he had. They were at the same level as some of the houses on the cliff that overlooked the water, and could see far in all directions. Michael sucked in a breath, partially to help him cool down, and partially in awe of the scene. Sunlight dappled the water_ _'s surface, and one single cloud cast a shadow on the surface that stood out amongst the other colors. The stark grey-brown of the cliff and the vibrant greens of the palm trees below them framed the blue, and Michael didn't even have to make a pretend frame with his fingers- the painting's composition was perfect as it was._

" _Isn't it beautiful?" Carmen set her head on the side of the railing, gazing out at the scene. "I don't visit the sea often, so I forget how lovely water looks when the sun hits it just right…"_

" _There's so many colors," Michael agreed._

" _Yeah. The green of the trees and the blue of the water-"_

" _But there are_ so many _greens in the trees- dark olive greens and bright saturated greens, yellow greens and even bright yellow_ _… and the water- oh, the water goes from practically indigo all the way through greens and the yellow of the sun's reflection-"_

_Michael cut off sharply. He sounded like he was lecturing her, and he feared how she might react. She didn_ _'t give any reactions, however, examining the scene in front of her before turning back to him._

" _You're amazing! To see all the colors in that… you have the eye of a painter."_

_There were a lot of colors in Carmen_ _'s expression as well. Michael almost lost his balance and had to hold onto the railing._

" _Y-y-you really think so? I mean… uh… thanks… I guess I just…"_

" _Look over there! There's a boat!"_

_In a way, it was disheartening to Michael for Carmen to have interrupted him, but the look on her face seemed to indicate that she could feel his nervousness and wanted him to loosen up. Almost immediately they began another conversation, and continued chatting for what felt like both forever and not long enough. By the time a sharp voice from the bottom of the cliff cut them off, Michael had all but forgotten his worry about his grandmother._

" _Hey, you! Boy! Are you Michael Tamaro?"_

_Michael stopped and looked down. Despite calling him_ _"boy," the kid who had spoken couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen years old himself. "Uh, Emine Tamaro is my grandmother, if that's what you mean-"_

" _Rafa!" Carmen waved, her smile not wavering. "Come up here and look at this view!"_

" _Really, Carmen? Goofing off at a time like this? And with one of the villagers, no less? Tell him his grandmother is recovering and wants to see him."_

_Michael gasped._ _"Grandma! I-I'm sorry, Carmen, I have to go-"_

" _It's okay," she replied. "I hope that you can paint this scene for her to make her feel even better. It was nice to meet you, Just Michael."_

_Running down the steps was so much easier than running up the steps, and Michael quickly made it to the base of the cliff. He passed by the boy who had addressed them, trying to stay out of his way, but it was as though the boy purposefully stuck his foot out to make Michael trip. Of course, it wouldn_ _'t be prudent to make any accusations, especially with how clumsy Michael could be, so he simply brushed it off once he was able to regain his balance. "S-sorry-"_

" _Don't get involved with her."_

_The whispered response was so quick and off-topic, Michael almost didn_ _'t catch it. "Pardon?"_

" _Don't get involved with her." The boy's gaze flew up briefly to where Carmen was waving at them. "Pursuing a girl like that will only cause you pain in the end."_

_Michael paid the boy no mind and ran off towards his grandmother_ _'s house._

" _Whatever."_

* * *

"And the timer starts… now. Oh, hey! It's a teapot, isn't it?"

"At least wait until I finish drawing the first line. Geez."

"So it is a teapot?"

"No. It's not a teapot. Be patient."

"There's no patience in this game- the timer's running. It's a bird!"

"No."

"Not a bird… well, then… it's… oh, oh, a fish!"

"No, it's not a fish."

"What? If it's not a fish, then-"

The game was interrupted abruptly by the sound of a knock at the door and a nervous voice calling "YOUR HIGHNESS? SORRY TO WAKE YOU, BUT I HAVE AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM YOUR FATHER. HE REQUESTS YOUR PRESENCE IMMEDIATELY IN THE-"

By that point, Pokota had already scurried over to the door and opened it to speak with the attendant. Adelaide grabbed the small hourglass and set it on its side so that the time wouldn't keep running while they were being interrupted. A moment later she realized it might be pointless, as they probably wouldn't be able to resume their game, but that didn't matter so much.

"Your highness? What were you doing awake at this hour?"

"I, uh, didn't mean to stay up so late," Pokota admitted. "It's just, Adelaide and I got really wrapped up in this game we were playing, and we wanted to keep going until there was a winner-"

"Lady Adelaide?" It wasn't until after Pokota mentioned her name that the attendant saw her. "What are you doing here?! This part of the palace is off limits to-"

"I invited her!" Pokota quickly interjected. "Now are you going to tell me where my father wants me or not?"

"Your highness, with all due respect, if word got out that you were… _consorting_ with foreign nobility, and during the negotiation of potential treaties, no less-"

"What do you think we're _doing_?" Adelaide hissed, standing up from her spot on the floor and approaching the door with the sketchbook in her hand. "Can't a pair of friends hang out together without people making something of it? We're playing guess-the-picture. See? It's a whale."

"A whale?" Pokota bristled, jumping onto her shoulder. "But you said it wasn't a fish!"

"Whales aren't fish, stupid. They're cetaceans."

"They live in the ocean!"

"They're mammals."

"But-"

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" Another yell from the attendant broke up the pair's argument. "Please take this seriously! People's lives are in danger. There's been an earthquake, and your father wants your input as they work out how Taforashia is going to respond."

"…an earthquake?" Pokota hopped up onto Adelaide's head. "Where? I haven't felt anything."

"It was to the east, at the Vaccaro Mine where it caused a destructive landslide."

"The mine? Isn't that mostly on Adessi's side of the border? Or was the landslide on the Taforashian side-"

"The landslide was on Adessian soil," the attendant interrupted again, "but close to the border, at the village of Senagra. According to reports, the village was engulfed by the landslide, and those who were able to escape to the west are taking shelter on Taforashian land. That's why your father wants your input- he wants to know what we're going to do to help the citizens of Adessi who've come to Taforashia. You're to meet him in the east conference room immediately."

Pokota and Adelaide exchanged an uneasy glance, and Pokota then spoke up. "Give me just a moment to gather a few things, and tell my father I'll be right there."

"I'll go too," Adelaide offered. "I want to be able to help as much as I can-"

"That's not necessary, Lady Adelaide." The attendant cut her off. "We wouldn't ask a visiting noble to get involved in matters that are strictly Taforashia's business. I'll inform the king that you'll be arriving shortly, your highness. If necessary, I can get someone to _discreetly_ escort Lady Adelaide back to the guest quarters."

Adelaide waved a hand. "That's not necessary. I can find my way back on my own- _discreetly,_ of course."

"Of course." The attendant gave a nod and left before either of the two could say anything. Pokota hopped down from Adelaide's head and scurried over to his desk to gather a couple of notebooks. As he did, he spoke absentmindedly, a bit more to himself than to Adelaide though he expected an answer from her anyway.

"I don't get it… if there was an earthquake as close as Vacarro, wouldn't we have felt it? I didn't feel a thing…"

Adelaide didn't respond to him. She sat down on the floor again, picking up the tiny hourglass and stashing it away in her pocket along with the pencil she'd been using. "They treat me like such an outsider, no matter what you say to them…"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The people of Taforashia don't seem to want me here. Even your dad seems to barely tolerate me for your sake. Is it really a good idea for me to be here at all, much less trying to arrange an alliance between Taforashia and Ruvinigald? With my family background, it's obvious why they'd have a problem with _me_ being the one to establish the connection, but still…"

"They just need some time to get used to you," Pokota replied. "It took them a while to get used to _me_ , and I'm the same person they knew before. In time they'll learn that you're someone they can trust."

"But how much time? Will the time required make the whole thing more trouble than it's worth?" Adelaide stood up again and reached out to her friend as they moved into the hallway. "Pokota, I-"

"Don't talk like that." Pokota waved one of his hands toward her dismissively. "It's late, and I'm sure you'll feel better once you get some rest. My father and I will figure out a course of action, and I'll send for you afterward." He jumped up onto her head and leaned over her face with a more serious expression. "I'll be relying on you to help with this situation, no matter what anyone says. If there really has been a natural disaster and people have been forced out of their homes, the background of those helping shouldn't matter. So long as you're doing everything you can to help, that's what matters most."

Adelaide nodded gently, to show her approval without knocking him off her head, but she averted her gaze so that she didn't have to make eye contact with him.

"…okay…"

* * *

Gourry awoke first to the sound of Lina's voice and the feeling of her hand shaking his shoulder. She was saying his name, urging him to get out of bed, offering the day's fun plans with Amelia as an incentive for him to get up and get moving. He responded with an unintelligible noise of understanding, but didn't move, and was quickly overtaken by sleep once again.

The second wake-up call came from an almost fully-grown golden retriever puppy who bounded onto the bed and made sniffing Gourry's face his number one priority. Gourry let out a pained yelp as a good 30 kilograms of dog landed on his chest, and he sat up to push the puppy back onto the other side of the bed.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up. You're too big for this, Lucan. One of these days you're going to break one of my ribs jumping on me like that… Lina, can't you do something about him?"

Lina snapped her fingers a couple of times over Lucan's head, and the dog jumped off the bed and sat down at her feet with his tongue lolling out as he excitedly waited for futher commands. "I told him to do that. He wouldn't have jumped on you if you'd woken up when you said you would. Sit up- I brought you a cup of coffee. How's your arm?"

Gourry did as he was told, propping up his pillow so that he could sit up and stretch out his left arm, moving each of his fingers individually and clenching and unclenching his fist. Lina sat down next to him and once she was satisfied that he could move his arm and hand well enough, she gave him the mug of coffee- sweetened with plenty of sugar and a hint of cream, just the way he liked it. Gourry took it with a grateful nod, but didn't drink any and didn't say anything.

"Looks good! It's been almost three weeks since you had any problems with it in the morning. Is that a new record, you think?" Lina leaned in toward him with a smile. "Amelia's already prepared breakfast for us. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you coming to the table in your pajamas if you'd like to eat first and get dressed later, but she could also be patient if you'd like to get ready beforehand and then eat breakfast. What do you think?"

Lucan had hopped up onto the bed and was eagerly leaning over Gourry's shoulder to sniff the mug of coffee. Gourry turned so that his shoulder was between the coffee and the excited puppy. "I, uh, really appreciate all the work on Amelia's part, but I think I'd rather rest this morning." He forced a weak smile. "You can go eat breakfast, and I'll stay here and, uh, get ready at my own pace-"

" _Gourry_." Lina interrupted him, snatching the mug from his hands and placing it on the nightstand. "I gave you two options. Stay here and skip breakfast was not one of them."

"But Lina-"

"Don't _but Lina_ me. Are you going to go to breakfast first and then get dressed, or are you going to dress and then eat breakfast?"

Gourry pouted. "I'll get dressed first, thanks. You go ahead and I'll catch up."

"Okay, but if you use this as an excuse to fall back asleep, you'll be getting a fireball in place of breakfast."

For the first time that morning, Gourry smiled genuinely. " _Oh_? Your magic's back so soon? That was fast."

Lina frowned and cleared her throat. "If you use this as an excuse to fall back asleep, you'll be getting a fireball in two days or so."

"That's what I thought."

"…" Lina picked up a pillow from the other side of the bed and smacked Gourry over the head with it.

"Ow!" It didn't really hurt, but his exclamation was more in surprise than in pain. "Hey!"

"Amelia and I will see you at breakfast in a few minutes. Don't make me come back here and sic Lucan on you again."

At the sound of his name, the puppy jumped off the bed and ran to Lina's side, following obediently after her into the hallway with his tail wagging back and forth furiously. Lina closed the door behind them and sighed as they walked down the hallway.

"And I thought he was getting better too. What a pain…" She ran a hand through her hair. "Do you think he's getting sick? I hate to deprive him of rest if he's got a cold or something, but he doesn't _look_ sick and he definitely doesn't have a fever-"

"Miss Lina!"

Lina stopped as she heard Amelia's voice, giving her friend time to approach her. Amelia was running down the hallway, out of breath and pale-faced, and once she reached Lina she had to pause and catch her breath before she could speak again.

"Amelia? Is everything okay?" Lina grabbed Lucan by the scruff of the neck to keep him from jumping all over Amelia. It wasn't that she was concerned about Amelia specifically, but the cat Amelia was holding was the poster-child for feline obesity, and if Lucan were to jump into pursuit, the fluffy ball of lard would never be able to outrun him. "I'm on my way to breakfast and Gourry will be ready in just a few-"

"S-sorry, Miss Lina, but I'm not going to be able to eat breakfast with you. Actually, I won't be able to spend the day with you at all. An emergency situation has come up in Adessi, and I have to leave immediately."

Lina paused, taking in Amelia's words in surprise. "…Adessi? Like, where Seyruun's Botanical Research Institute is? What happened?"

"There was a landslide that buried the nearby village of Senagra." Amelia was scratching the cat's head, and the shakiness in her hand was obvious. "A number of survivors have been taken in by Taforashia, but there's another group to the northeast that is going to be housed at the institute while search and rescue crews try to recover what they can from the village. Adessi is such a small, rural country, it doesn't have the proper resources for this. So that's why they've asked for help from the Seyruun government. I volunteered to help with search and rescue, since they said they needed people, but they said that I would be better off going to oversee the group being housed at the institute."

"A landslide…" Lina murmured to herself, releasing her grip on Lucan, who had calmed some as he felt the conversation grow more serious. "…do you need Gourry and me to help with the search and rescue, then? I'm sure they could use a strong guy like Gourry on their team, and Lucan can help find people who might be trapped in the debris-"

"Miss Lina, I couldn't ask you to do that on such short notice. Besides, you and Mister Gourry had plans for today, didn't you?"

"Our plans were with _you_. If we're not getting to spend time with you, it doesn't matter. I'd rather do something to help, especially if there are people in danger. Gourry performed search and rescue with the militia he used to work with, so he has experience, and I know plenty of first aid that we can use to help survivors. I know Lucan is still a puppy and hasn't been properly trained, but even he could help find people if they've gotten stuck places that we can't get to ourselves."

At the sound of his name, Lucan jumped up on Lina's side, nearly knocking her off-balance. She was put off for only a moment as she waved him away, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on Amelia's.

"…are you sure about this? I thought you were concerned about Mister Gourry. Last night you said something about him sleeping too much lately, and-"

"I am, but I think this might be just what he needs," Lina responded, crossing her arms. "He's losing motivation, it seems. If we can find a mission that he can focus his energy on, maybe he'll improve. The last doctor that we talked to said that it's better for him not to be idle, but things have been so slow lately with our usual bandit-hunting routine, it's been hard to keep Gourry busy."

"Miss Lina, this isn't work to do just for the sake of work. People are going to be depending on you for their lives."

"I know. That's why I think it will work. Gourry needs to know that he can make a difference."

"This is a serious situation. There might be people you can't save. You may end up watching people die. Do you think he's strong enough to handle that?"

Lina was silent at first. Lucan gave a low whine as he sensed the discomfort in the air, and the noise elicited a low _mreow_ from Amelia's cat. "…I think…" Lina finally began, "that should be Gourry's decision to make."

Amelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again.

"If you really think this is a good idea, there is a group leaving from here in about an hour, bound for Senagra to deliver supplies. I can tell them that you'll be traveling with them. Make your decision in the next thirty minutes or so, and I can-"

"Thank you, Amelia!" Lina ran up and threw her arms around her friend. The hug was a little awkward with a fluffy cat in between them and an enthusiastic puppy jumping at them from the sides, but it was affectionate enough to get the message across.

"You're the ones I should be thanking. For you to volunteer to do something like this-"

Lina cut her off with a smile. "We can talk compensation once all this is figured out."

"Ah."


	2. Under Cover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

**2- Under Cover**

" _So, how did you get into this kind of painting?" Carmen turned the tube of oil paint over in her hands a few times. "I mean, I don't think many toddlers go around carrying cans of turpentine with them to art class."_

_Michael laughed, partially because he found her question funny, but partially because Carmen had commented on how much his voice had changed since the last time she_ _'d seen him and he wanted to talk and laugh around her as much as possible. Hearing himself on a daily basis, he had no way of knowing just how much it had changed, so it was nice to have someone he saw on a more occasional basis who could tell him. His sixteenth birthday had already passed, after all. He'd had facial hair since he was thirteen- it was about time his voice caught up!_

" _I've loved painting ever since I was a kid. My grandfather- er, not this grandmother's husband, but the one on my other side- was an artist, and he trained me-"_

" _That's amazing! Can we paint with these things?" Carmen had been rummaging through the trunk of art supplies, grabbing the first few items that her hands came across. She'd pulled a folder of paper out, along with a couple of long-bristled brushes. Michael only had to take a cursory glance over them before he shook his head in response._

" _You could try, but you'd end up with something strange. That paper is made for watercolors and those brushes are for tempera."_

_Carmen_ _'s face fell, and she paused so that she could look at the supplies in her hands a bit more closely. "Oh, okay. I had no idea painting was so complicated. Before the stuff you gave me, the last utensils I ever used to paint were my fingers."_

_Michael laughed again, his time not as forced._ _"Well, as far as the three go, oil is my favorite medium, but it's by far the hardest to work with. If you're a beginner, you should probably stick to something water-based. Watercolor isn't generally as messy as acrylic, so why don't we-?" He walked to the trunk and gently nudged Carmen aside so that he could get to the watercolor brushes and paints._

_Carmen stepped away, a pout on her face._ _"No! I want to try your favorite! Besides, I thought the point of painting was to get messy!"_

" _Not quite. Painting is all about taking the visions and desires in your heart and putting them in a form that others can see, so that maybe their hearts can resonate with yours. To have someone look at something you've painted and feel something powerful in their heart… that's the dream of any painter, isn't it?"_

_For a moment, Michael feared that he_ _'d said something silly, the way Carmen was staring at him. He mentally kicked himself for being so pretentious- that was how his grandmother put it, right?- but before he could scold himself too harshly, he heard the sound of someone clapping._

" _Yes, yes! I want to paint too!" Carmen jumped up and down excitedly, already starting out the door and down the street.. "I may not be any good at it, but I can try. That's what matters, isn't it?"_

" _E-exactly." Michael blushed and hunched his shoulders a little as he followed, burdened with the supplies they'd picked out. "I was afraid you wouldn't understand. I mean, most people do, but my grandmother and some others don't-"_

" _Appealing to people's hearts is important." Carmen didn't seem to have any qualms about cutting him off. "I'm training to become a healer, but I've found that simple healing spells can only go so far to help people. You can heal their bodies, but if their hearts are still hurting, it might not do any good." She closed her eyes and smiled. "My father's favorite quote is '_ everybody needs beauty as well as bread,places to play in and pray in- _"_

"—where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.' _John Muir._ _" Michael finished. They had gotten to the stairs up the cliff where they'd gone the first day they met- a place both had agreed was the best place for their first painting together. "I love his writings. Never have I seen anyone paint with words the way he does. I actually have a few- well, I have '_ My First Summer in the Sierra, _' if you want to read it. Er, wait… we were going to paint, weren't we…? We should keep going to make sure we have the best light."_

_Carmen giggled._ _"Let's paint, and we can read together later."_

" _L-later…" Michael had started up the stairs and made it to the first landing. "…what do you mean, later?"_

_Carmen looked down from the next landing up._ _"Well, I wanted to talk to you about that. See, I heard that the healer in your village was looking for someone to take her place in the next year or two. Traveling with my father is fun, but I've always wanted to be a true healer. I thought that, maybe, if I were to-"_

" _Here?!" Michael leaned backwards over the railing so that he could look up at her above him._

" _Yeah. I mean, if you think you could use a healer-"_

" _You mean you'd live here? Full time?"_

" _That's the plan."_

_For a few seconds, Michael couldn_ _'t speak. The thought of being able to see Carmen every day was something his silly teenage heart had dreamed about for a while, and seeing it within reach was too much for him. "…b-but…" he stammered. "…what about your father?"_

_Carmen frowned and turned her gaze back out to the water._ _"It'll be tough for both of us, I know. I wish Father and I could stay together forever. But he's so powerful, when we find people in need, he's the one who takes charge. He's taught me everything he knows, and yet I'm going to be stuck watching from the sidelines as long as I'm with him. If I want to be anything more than just his acolyte- if I want to_ help _people- I have to strike out on my own and find my own corner of the world to serve._ _"_

" _But here? Why not go to a big city, where there's more people? You're saying there's really something you like so much about this tiny village that you'd choose it over a place with so many more opportunities?"_

_There was a pause. The sound of the ocean played a gentle rhythm against the afternoon breeze._

" _There's you."_

"…"

_Michael had been leaning back against the railing, but in the heat of the moment, he lost his balance and started to topple over the edge. He yelped, but before he knew what was happening, he heard the chanting of a spell and found himself near the ground, in the arms of a levitating Carmen._

"Are you okay?! _Good gods, what was that? You practically jumped off!_ _"_

_Michael was almost too startled to respond._ _"I…I… didn't… mean to…"_

" _From my perspective? You jumped." Carmen frowned and set him back down on the floor. "You sure you're okay?"_

" _Y…yeah…" Michael scratched the back of his head as she set him back on the ground. "I, uh, suppose I wanted to show you how badly we need you as a healer… Big cities may have opportunities, but the clumsy people of Gardenos need your help more than anyone else, I think._ I _need your help._ _"_

_Carmen closed her eyes and sighed._

" _If I agree to become this town's healer, will you promise never to jump off a cliff for my sake again?"_

_Michael enthusiastically agreed._

* * *

"We haven't gotten to the houses on the western side of the village- we need some people to comb through there looking for survivors. According to the reports from Taforashia and Seyruun, there are still approximately twenty-seven people still unaccounted for. Every second that passes could mean a climbing death toll. Gourry, Lina, Shay, if you all could take your dogs to the houses next to the mountainside; those have been hit the hardest and would likely be difficult to get into."

The head of the search-and-rescue crew that Seyruun had sent to Adessi was a stout, powerful woman whose voice could be heard clearly even over all the clamor that was going on amongst the village. Lina and Gourry were not the only ones who'd brought a dog, though Shay and his bloodhound Daisy were the polar opposites of Lina, Gourry, and Lucan. Shay was a middle-aged man, timid and soft-spoken, and Daisy was an old dog whose temperament stayed calm even against Lucan's puppyish enthusiasm. Shay, an experienced dog handler, had been able to tell right away that Lucan wasn't quite fully grown and certainly wasn't a trained search dog, but he said that, so long as Lucan was not a distraction to Daisy, his strength might be helpful to them in moving debris. Daisy was utterly unfazed by Lucan, and Lina and Gourry imagined that she must be either highly trained, or too old to care.

The village itself felt utterly desolate. The landslide had obliterated some of the homes, while others stood in various states of ruin and others were spared almost entirely. The houses on the mountainside were almost all mowed to the ground, and while Daisy sniffed diligently around the rubble, she sent no signals of any discoveries- live or cadavers. The only bodies she found were those of a group of rabbits, crushed together in a hutch that had been buried. Whether they'd died of injuries or asphyxiation wasn't clear, but Gourry said a soft prayer over them anyway.

Lina had to admit, she hadn't realized that the country of Adessi was so arid. There was low vegetation, but even that was sparse, and the area had been violently windy from the moment they'd set foot on the place. The wind came from the north, in Ralteague, according to the other workers, where the air slid down the slopes of the Bluestone mountain arc and flowed unobstructed over the plateau until it reached the mountains that shot up in Senagra. With the silence of the area making the place practically a ghost town, the only sounds they could make out were the hushed tones of their fellow workers as they shuffled along, the din of the local insects stirring up as dusk began to fall, and the low sound of the wind whipping through the streets, blowing particles of sandy soil here and there. Even Lina, who had stood before many an enemy, admitted that there was something off-putting about the desolation of the village of Senagra.

But more than anything else, she was worried about Gourry.

He had been eager enough to help out with the search and rescue, citing his previous experience in the field, but the way he offered prayers over something as small as a rabbit hutch was something that Lina feared was indicative of more than just his usual soft-heartedness.

"Hey, Gourry- how are things going?" Lina moved closer to him, making a show of using his large figure to shield her from the wind so that he wouldn't suspect she was probing him. "It's almost summer, but with wind like this, it's easy to get cold when you're exposed."

"Yeah, sure is." Gourry almost laughed. "And some of us aren't small enough to use our partners as meat shields."

"I'm not _using_ you!" Lina huffed, turning around and crossing her arms. "I'm simply placing myself strategically so as to take advantage of your current position. Isn't that right, Lu- Lucan? Where'd he go?"

The dog had disappeared, and Lina took a moment to look around in surprise. Unless he was chasing a small animal, Lucan never strayed far enough away from Lina or Gourry to lose sight of them, and when one left his sight, he always grew antsy until they returned. A puppy still getting over separation anxiety wasn't the kind to wander off on his own, especially in a place like this. As Lina turned around, she heard the unmistakable sound of a dog barking.

This, however, was not Lucan's sharp, throaty yip. It was, instead, the long, low bay of a bloodhound.

Lina and Gourry found themselves at a house that had been only partially inundated by the landslide. One corner of the house was still standing upright, wood panels and window trim all intact. A large boulder just above it on the mountainside had directed the sea of debris around that part of the house. But the other side was entirely demolished, and in-between the building was in every state imaginable.

Gourry was experienced in how the search and rescue process worked, so he was the first to reach Daisy and called to Shay to get more information.

"Does that signal mean alive or dead?"

"Alive."

That one word sent Gourry and Lina into a frenzy of action. Gourry began tugging at the piles of wood in an attempt to get inside the house where Daisy was indicating. Lina held up a _lighting_ spell- the best she could do under the circumstances- and calling out in hopes that whoever was alive in the rubble would hear them.

"Is someone there? Hey! We're here to help you. Can you see my spell?"

The group paused as the sound of a person's voice from within the remains of the structure was heard. It was a woman's voice, low and thick as though her throat was clogged with something.

"… _th-the shelf_ _…"_

Gourry had pushed the wood debris aside enough that a small person could make it into the building, and so Lina slipped in, holding up her spell in hopes that the woman they'd heard was mobile enough to find it. Within a moment, she was able to make out a figure hobbling around the remains of a brick fireplace, and Lina ran to help support her as they made their way to where Gourry and Shay were waiting.

"Is there anyone else here with you?" Lina asked as she supported the woman on her shoulder.

" _N-no. My husband_ _…_ " The woman had to clear her throat between every other word, it seemed. "… _and son_ _… were out of the house… when the-"_

"Don't worry about talking too much. You're going to be okay."

"… _I-I wasn_ _'t hurt when the house collapsed… and I knew I should… wait for help… it was too dangerous to escape myself… but no one came… and I was worried about my… son, and I tried to-"_

Lina made it back to the entrance where Gourry was waiting to help the two of them out of the house. "She says there's no one else here; the rest of her family was out, so I'm sure they were able to seek refuge elsewhere. I can't see any external bleeding, but she probably has internal injuries, and there's something in her throat."

Gourry scooped up the woman, who was still trying to communicate something about a shelf falling on her as she'd tried to escape the rubble. "Take it easy; everything's going to be alright. From your breathing, it sounds like there's fluid in your lungs, possibly blood from a broken rib. I'm going to get you to the hospital so that they can use some healing spells to patch up your injuries and clear out your lungs."

" _Yes_." With Gourry's reassurances, the woman finally nodded in agreement. Gourry turned to Lina and instructed her to run ahead of them and tell the healers that they were coming and what the woman's injuries were. Shay, meanwhile, was to stay with Daisy and continue searching for others among the rubble. Lina nodded and ran onward while Gourry shifted the woman's weight so that she would be as safe as possible while he transported her.

She felt as though she weighed almost nothing- less than Lina, even. Despite apparently being middle-aged, there was a youthful glow to her face that Gourry thought seemed familiar, but couldn't place. Her dark auburn hair was short but it was matted and dirty, much like her clothing. Gourry had expected her to easily fall unconscious in his arms, but her deep green eyes were wide open, taking in her surroundings. She was wounded, but conscious and alert. There was little chance she would die.

Even so, Gourry didn't want to take any chances.

* * *

Adelaide wasn't used to mechanical noise, and so when she stepped into Taforashia's small seismology lab in order to collect the seismogram that Pokota had sent her for, it was as though she'd walked into another world entirely. There were a series of large machines, each with a long roll of paper and a wobbling needle that seemed to be recording even the slightest variations in the movement of the ground beneath them. A young woman with a pair of large glasses approached Adelaide immediately with a folder full of paper with similar looking diagrams.

"You must be Lady Adelaide. Prince Posel informed us that you'd be coming by to pick up the seismogram they requested."

Adelaide nodded, feeling refreshed by the woman's friendliness. "That's right. He asked me to make sure that you'd included your interpretations."

"Yes, it's all here." The woman pulled Adelaide aside and motioned for her to sit down at a table. "I wanted to go over it with you, just to be sure that everything is understood. I can't leave the laboratory right now, since I'm the only one working and we need to monitor for any further activity around the mine area. Here's the chart- I've labelled the times of day. The actual mass movement began at about 19:07 hours, so I've included from 18:00 hours on May 19, to 01:00 hour today, May 20. That encompasses most of the major landmass movement as far as we can determine from the data here. Hopefully this gives a better idea as to the timeline of the event. I've also included the past three months' rainfall data and the average data for this time of year so that you can get a better idea of how abnormally wet our season has been so far. That, coupled with last year's drought that killed off some of the vegetation, is most likely responsible for the mass movement event."

Adelaide nodded a few times again, not sure what else to say. She'd taken a couple of geology electives while in school, but still the scribbles on the paper were foreign to her. "So, um, Prince Posel also wanted to know if you've determined an epicenter for the earthquake."

"…pardon?" The woman blinked, staring up at Adelaide as though she had no clue what the girl was talking about.

"The, uh, earthquake? The one that triggered the landslide, I mean."

Once again, the woman held a puzzled look, adjusting her glasses awkwardly and retrieving the original seismogram from the back of the folder. "I'm not sure I understand. We didn't record any earthquakes during that time."

It was Adelaide's turn to frown in confusion. "No earthquakes? None at all?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Then what triggered the landslide?!"

"When the support for the material on the hillside has been degrading as it has over the past few months due to rainfall and erosion, there doesn't necessarily have to be a trigger event. However, the seismogram does seem to indicate a shallow event just moments before the mass movement began. See it here?"

The woman's finger traced along the ink on the paper until it reached a point where the generally flat line began to zigzag, first in a motion that looked to Adelaide like a sideways whole-rest, and then in a predictable pattern eventually tapering off. Adelaide wasn't trained to decipher such a message, but even so, she could tell that it was something big.

"Are you sure that's not an earthquake?"

"An earthquake would have more of a curved triangular appearance, and there would likely be aftershocks. We didn't record anything of that nature during this time period."

"So, what is it, then?"

There was a moment of silence.

"It's hard to say. The pattern is reminiscent of a magic-induced explosion, very similar to those they've used sometimes before in the open pit mine. However, this is larger than any mining activity that I've ever seen, so I can't say for sure what I think about it. We'll have to get some more data from other seismic stations in Adessi."

The woman gathered up the papers and stuffed them into the folder again, handing the folder to Adelaide with a smile. Adelaide gave a grateful bow and thanked the woman before turning and rushing back toward the palace where Pokota had instructed her to take the information. She couldn't help her mind from wandering as she did so, thinking of all the faces of the refugees she'd seen from Senagra. These people had lost their homes, their possessions, their whole lives practically. And to think it might have been caused by a magical explosion…

…was this intentional?

* * *

"Your highness, I suggest you proceed first to the office of the dean, to let her know that you've arrived safely and will be helping with the situation."

"Where are the people being housed? Shouldn't I check on them personally to make sure that everything is alright?"

"Several of the student dormitories have recently been vacated since the spring term ended, so there's more than enough room for them. Scott Hall is being used at the moment because of its proximity to the other campus facilities. You needn't worry about that at the moment- they're getting settled in. Speak to Dean Holden first, and then you can visit the dormitory."

Amelia hated being shoved into bureaucratic roles without actually getting to work with those she was helping, but it was no use arguing with the professor who'd met her upon her arrival. He was insistent that she visit the dean's office first, so she started in that direction, hoping that it would be a quick meeting. She had already been briefed on the plan of action- what else was there? Besides, her feline companion wasn't a fan of walking a lot, and 10 kilograms of Maine Coon was a lot to lug around, even while he was sleeping peacefully in her shoulder-bag.

The dean's office was in the Student Resource Building, a powerful stone monolith that stood overlooking the rest of the institute's campus. It had been built from local stone, and so it blended almost seamlessly into the mountainside behind it. Amelia opened the heavy doors with no difficulty, but she knew that they were probably much more of a challenge for some of the students, and wondered if the seeming inaccessibility of the building was undermining its true purpose.

The interior reception area was cold and paved with marble tile. There seemed to be a frenzy of activity as employees scurried back and forth between desks with papers and folders clutched in their hands. Amelia had visited before, and knew exactly how to navigate the winding hallways back to the dean's office. When she arrived, the door was already ajar, and she could hear voices from inside. Gently, she rapped on the outside of the door and pushed it open a bit. "Dr. Holden? Are you here? I hope I'm not interrupting anything-"

"Oh, Amelia, come in. Don't worry; I was just speaking to Dr. Wilson and your husband."

"Huh? _Zelgadis?_ "

" _Amelia_?"


	3. Hard Facts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late with this chapter- my apologies! I forgot about my update schedule this week, but I DID successfully present my thesis research at a regional conference, so… priorities, I guess. As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**3- Hard Facts**

_The black-haired boy reached the main street of the village, frowning in disgust as he watched the passersby around the market. The heavy, salty smell of recently harvested fish and shellfish hung in the air like fog, and within a few moments, the boy had covered his nose with a handkerchief. Clearly he was not a local._

_Gardenos was an older village with not many young residents, so the appearance of a boy who looked about sixteen or seventeen was intriguing to the people walking around. However, they found that they couldn_ _'t stare for long because of the boy's unapproachable demeanor, and not one person dared to speak to him._

_The boy was kept waiting for a few minutes before finally a young woman approached him, waving with a big smile on her face._ _"Rafa! There you are! I was afraid you wouldn't make it."_

_Seeing the girl- the village_ _'s talented and beloved healer- approaching the boy with familiarity helped to ease some of the anxiety that the residents had upon first seeing him. A few stopped what they were doing to glance over and pay subtle attention to the two._

_The boy scoffed, turning his head away in indignance._ _"And when have I_ ever _broken my word?_ _"_

" _Well, I just thought that, since you-"_

" _Never. Not to you, not to Father, not to anyone. So when I say I'm going to come to Father's aid, believe me, that's what I'm going to do. Where is he?"_

" _Dad's aid?" The woman tilted her head a little in surprise. "What do you mean? His letter to you was an invitation, not a summons."_

" _Hah! That's a good one. You don't even suspect that he's called me here for back-up, do you?"_

"… _back-up?"_

_The boy glanced around briefly, noticing that some people were staring, and grabbed his sister_ _'s arm so as to pull her along the street with him to avoid eavesdroppers. "Father hasn't been able to convince you to leave this dump, has he? You're being held back by that good-for-nothing painter. You'll never achieve greatness in a place like this, and if he won't leave, you'll just have to leave him. Trust me, Carmen, I know these things-"_

"What _are you talking about?_ _" Carmen flinched and pulled her arm away. "Dad hasn't said anything of the sort! He called you here because Michael and I are getting married, and he wants you to attend."_

_The boy_ _'s face fell as the slow realization that his sister was serious began to set in. He glanced briefly at her hands, noticing the lack of any sort of engagement ring, and cleared his throat once before speaking. "Very funny, Carmen. You're doing nothing of the sort. I see no ring to indicate that he's proposed."_

" _A ring would be frivolous. There are more important things to consider…" Carmen glanced away embarrassedly._

" _So that's your way of saying he's too poor to get one for you?"_

" _It's not that! We're saving our money for when we're really going to need it!"_

_The boy frowned._ _"How long have the two of you been engaged?"_

" _D-does that matter?"_

" _Of course it matters! You can't just jump into these things. You have to plan them carefully- an opulent wedding displays a certain level of status. Don't tell me that this was a spur of the moment decision…?"_

_Carmen shook her head._ _"We've been discussing the idea of marriage for more than a year now, but we never made any definite plans until recently. Our lives have been busy and we haven't had the time to plan for such things. We needed a push in the right direction."_

" _A push in the…?" He looked his sister over for a moment with a new perspective, and stepped back in horror as he realized. "…no. You're…?" There was another pause as his face contorted into an expression of disgust. "No way. Father would never approve of this- he'd be_ furious _if he knew-_ _"_

" _Dad invited you because he is going to be the one performing the wedding. Not only does he approve, but he's very happy for us."_

" _You're lying! Doesn't Father have too much honor to perform a shotgun wedding? He'd be sickened if he knew you were spreading lies about him like this-"_

_Carmen grabbed her brother_ _'s arms, squeezing tightly as she tried to get him to understand. "There's no shotgun, Rafa. Michael and I both want this. We want to be a family; we want to build a loving home for us and for our child. Why are you so against it?"_

"Why _?!_ _" He balked, stepping back. "Because I-"_

_The conversation was interrupted by a voice from behind them. A young man ran to greet them with a smile on his face before he saw the serious expressions of the two siblings and slowed down, approaching cautiously._ _"Carmen? Is that…?"_

_Before Carmen could say anything, her brother leapt at the man._ _"_ YOU _! How dare you corrupt my sister with your petty modesty? Don_ _'t you think she deserves better than that?! Better than being stuck in a tiny village like this, working a dead-end job, tied to a good-for-nothing and their bastard child-"_

" _ENOUGH!"_

_Carmen_ _'s brother flinched, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid being slapped across the face by his sister. Michael, standing opposite, backed away in fear, his face turning pale. "C-Carmen, you shouldn't-"_

_The woman wasn_ _'t listening to her fiance, however. "How dare_ you _? How dare you come in and act like you know what_ _'s best for me? Like you know what I want from life? To insult me, insult my fiance, insult our child- you don't get it at all!"_

" _What's there to get?" He scowled and rubbed his face. "You deserve more than this. I only want the best for you because I love you-"_

" _No, you don't."_

" _What?"_

" _You don't; you can't. If you're thinking about my status over my happiness, then you know nothing about what love is. Dad knows- he can see what even you can't!"_

_As the boy prepared his comeback, Michael shuffled over to Carmen awkwardly, placing a hand on her shoulder and whispering._

"Please don't get so worked up. You know what your dad said about-"

" _I should have known._ _" The boy took a few steps forward, walking past the two. "I should've realized you were a hopeless cause. You're just as bad as Father is."_

" _Rafa-" Carmen reached for him as he walked away, but Michael grabbed her from behind and held her, praying that a gentle and loving embrace would be all that was needed to keep her from doing something she'd regret. Her brother, on the other hand, looked back only once and then scoffed._

" _Tell Father that you and he won't be seeing me again. I can't let my ambitions be held back by the likes of you two."_

" _RAFAEL-!"_

_It was the last time Carmen ever saw him._

* * *

The two stood dumbfounded, staring at one another for a long moment in disbelief before finally both speaking at once.

"What are you doing here? I thought that you-" "Why are you here? I assumed you'd be-" "-were in Ruvinigald finishing up your publication-" "-helping with search and rescue efforts in-"

"Now, now, this is no time to be getting so worked up." Dr. Wilson stepped in between the couple, placing one hand on Zelgadis' shoulder and one hand on Amelia's. "Amelia, Zelgadis and I had to come out here to get some documents to use as references for our publication. We arrived about an hour ago, and when we heard about the landslide situation, Zelgadis insisted we stay and help out. Our submission deadline isn't for another month and we're nearly finished with our write-up, so I see no reason why we couldn't stay for a few days and help people get settled."

"You never told me you were leaving Ruvinigald." Amelia pouted as she looked over to Zelgadis. He responded, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"W-well, I thought it would just be a one-day trip, so I didn't think to say anything. I never imagined I'd see you here."

Dean Holden adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose and stood up from her desk. Amelia noticed that she had a cat with her, a small tabby that was observing the scene with wide eyes. She recognised it immediately as the timid kitten that Zelgadis had adopted several months earlier, unsurprised that he hadn't trusted the poor thing to be alright on its own. "I was going to ask Amelia to meet me in Scott Hall, but I was here discussing things with you two, so she was directed here. Why don't we all head over to the residence hall to check on the status of things, and we can catch up on the way."

The short walk from the student resource building to nearby Scott Hall wasn't nearly enough time for Amelia and Zelgadis to say everything they wanted to each other, but they knew they'd have time later that night, so they cut off and changed their focus once they entered the building.

Scott Hall was three stories tall and built in a U-shape with an interior courtyard and three main hallways, the middle of which held a lobby on the first floor. That lobby was now filled with people, milling about, talking, playing cards and board games, and consoling one another. There were a lot of solemn faces, some silent tears, and only a few people trying to lighten the mood. The atmosphere felt stifling to Amelia, and while she wanted to do something about it, at the same time she knew that there was nothing she could say to make things better for these people.

"How many people are being housed here?"

"The official count is fifty-seven right now. We're still trying to get a list of identification so that we can send word to Taforashia and Senagra as to who is accounted for," Dean Holden explained. "We fed them lunch about two hours ago, and they've been here since then, waiting on supplies such as pillows and blankets to be divided out. We were going to let everyone stay in the student rooms, but only a few people have accepted. Most of the people seem to want to stay in the lobby so that they can be with their companions."

"It makes sense," Zelgadis spoke, crossing his arms and glancing around to get a better idea of just how large the group was. "A village as small as Senagra would have a strong sense of camaraderie among its people, especially in the wake of a situation like this. Amelia, do you think we should-"

He didn't get to finish his question, as Amelia had already taken off toward the back corner of the lobby. Zelgadis knew what she was after- the sound of a small child crying from that direction was unmistakable. He sighed and gave a quick apology to Dean Holden and Dr. Wilson before running off after Amelia. By the time he got there, he found her sitting on the floor next to a little boy who looked to be about four years old. His face was obscured by his unruly auburn hair, but that didn't stop him from rubbing his cheeks with the backs of his hands as he continued to sob, wailing for his "Mama" and "Papa."

"-parents were on the other side of town, so they must have gone to Taforashia. We didn't have the chance to find them- someone needs to contact Taforashia to tell Mr. and Mrs. Belmonte that Jaime's safe."

Separated from his parents. So that was the boy's trouble. Zelgadis frowned and knelt down next to Amelia, who was trying to help calm the boy as best she could.

"It's okay, Jaime. Your mama and papa are just fine. They're taking shelter in Taforashia, not far away from here. They'll be back before you know, and won't they be proud of you for being so brave? Can't you stop crying for a moment and talk to us?"

Zelgadis looked up at the adults crowded around, and elderly couple and a middle-age man. "Did he eat lunch with you?"

"No, he was too upset to eat. We tried everything, but he refused."

"I see. If he's hungry, it'll only make a tantrum worse." Zelgadis reached over to the bag he had slung over his shoulder and dug through it until he found what he was looking for. He frowned, not liking the sight of it, but if one half-crushed piece of bubble gum was the only thing he had, he'd have to make it work. "Amelia, try giving him this. Make a game of it. If we can get some sugar in his system, maybe he'll calm down a little and can eat something."

Amelia nodded and offered the gum to the boy. "Jaime? Do you like bubble gum? Let's play a game- I want to see how big a bubble you can blow! Can you do that?"

Jaime stopped crying long enough to look up at Amelia and gingerly reach for the gum. He unwrapped it, but held onto it, looking around and staring at the two adults who were in front of him. Seeing his reaction, Zelgadis motioned to Amelia and then to himself.

"Don't worry, we're here to help. This is Amelia, and I'm Zelgadis. We're gonna help you find your mom and dad, okay?"

Jaime stared wide-eyed at Zelgadis for a long time, enough so that Zelgadis began to worry and shifted his weight awkwardly. However, when Jaime finally spoke, it was with a smile.

"Nii-nii?"

"Huh?"

" _Nii-nii_!" Jamie dropped the gum with disinterest, much more concerned about throwing himself into Zelgadis' arms. He wrapped his hands around Zelgadis' neck and squeezed tight, crying into Zelgadis' chest and repeating "nii-nii" a few times. Zelgadis was dumbfounded, and looked to Amelia for support.

" _Nii-nii?_ As in onii-san…? Hold on a second, Jaime. I'm not-"

Amelia tugged on Zelgadis' sleeve and hissed into his ear. " _This little boy just lost his home and is separated from his parents. If he wants you to be his Nii-nii, you_ will _be his Nii-nii. Understand?_ _"_

With Jaime's hands tightening around his neck, Zelgadis could only nod.

* * *

"Why would someone intentionally cause a landslide? What's in Senagra that they'd want destroyed?"

Pokota had puzzled over the contents of the seismogram, looking back and forth at the sheets of additional data that the lab had provided to them. When Adelaide had explained to him about the lack of an earthquake, he hadn't believed her, but the information on the paper didn't lie, and so he'd left them with some of the officials tasked with writing up a report and gone with Adelaide toward the city's Grand Hall, where the refugees were being kept.

"The woman at the lab said that the explosion was similar to routine mine blasts, except stronger," Adelaide responded. "It might have been something taking place in the mine and the landslide was just an unwanted side effect. Had the last few months not been so wet, the slope might not have collapsed. Were there any mining activities going on yesterday night?"

"At seven o'clock on a Saturday night? Not likely, but I can't say for sure." Pokota shook his head. "The mine is owned by a company named AVA, which keeps a very tight watch on everything. No one is allowed in and out of the mine, not even the people who live in Senagra. The only records of what was going on would be kept within the company."

"And if word got out that their actions caused a natural disaster like this, it could be disastrous for them. There's a chance they might have already destroyed the documents." Adelaide closed her eyes and sighed. "Isn't there anyone who might be able to take us up to the mine? If there _was_ an explosion, there would still be evidence. When word gets out that there wasn't an earthquake, people are going to want answers, and if we can just find _something-_ "

Pokota had been scurrying along beside Adelaide, and at that point he jumped up and perched on her head. "We could always ask. I'm sure that there's at least someone in Senagra who has connections with AVA."

The two shuffled along the pathway quietly after that. Pokota wanted to bring up something to talk about, but the atmosphere felt a little strained. It was probably because of the seriousness of the situation in Senagra, but even so, the prince wondered if perhaps there was something bothering Adelaide aside from that. He cleared his throat, deciding the best way to make things right again would be honesty.

"Hey, uh, Adelaide? About what I said last night… I didn't mean to cut you off like I did. You were going to say something, and I totally ignored you. That wasn't very nice of me, and I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I understand why you did it," Adelaide responded. "It was late and you were stressed. I was going on about something entirely unrelated to the situation in Senagra, and that wasn't the time or place for it."

"If you ever need to talk to me, I'm happy to listen. Maybe later, we can-"

"Let's just focus on getting access to the mine now. We'll talk about talking later."

"But-"

Adelaide didn't respond and simply walked ahead, so Pokota had no choice but to drop the subject and follow. It was a short distance until they came to the Grand Hall, but once they did, they were able to easily seek out Senagra's mayor, who was speaking with Pokota's father. A woman dressed in a business suit was with them, accompanied by a young girl who was holding onto her skirt and smiling as she looked around in awe. She was obviously not from Senagra.

"- _I promise, Taforashia will not abandon your village. We will do everything we can to ensure that Senagra recovers as best it can._ _"_

" _But… during the plague… instead of sending aid, we shut our borders, and-"_

" _Everything is in the past now. We must look toward the future. And for Senagra's future, Taforashia will do everything we can-_ ah! Posel. Lady Adelaide. Good timing. I assume you delivered the seismogram to the Bureau of Investigation. What, then, are you doing here?"

Adelaide and Pokota both looked at one another to speak. Adelaide closed her mouth tightly and gave him a stern look, and he looked sternly back, replying to his father with "Adelaide was the one who collected the information. She knows more about the issue than I do."

"Issue?"

"Y-yes." Adelaide cleared her throat and bowed respectfully toward the king. "The geologist at the laboratory told me that they did not register an earthquake any time before or during the landslide. There was no evidence that an earthquake caused the-"

"There was an earthquake," the businesswoman interrupted. "AVA's technology registered a 2.9 magnitude quake at approximately seven o'clock yesterday evening. Barely large enough to be felt, but certainly enough to cause the landslide."

"She's right! I heard it!" Senagra's mayor angrily butted in. "There was a loud sound right before the mountainside started crumbling! If it wasn't a small earthquake, what was it?"

Pokota's father put his hand on the mayor's shoulder and waved at the woman. "Now, now, calm down. Lady Adelaide, did the geologist suggest any other triggering event for the landslide?"

"W-well, she said that there didn't necessarily have to be one; that it could have simply been a result of last year's drought and this spring's abnormal rainfall, but… they did register what looked like a large surface-level explosion right before the landslide began."

"An explosion?"

"Like routine mine work, they said, but larger. We're wondering if there was mining activity going on during the time."

The mayor stiffened. "Mining activity? There shouldn't have been! AVA never said anything about further excavation this week, and they always make sure to brief us on their plans."

"There was none," the businesswoman shook her head. "AVA has been focused on rehabilitating and revamping mine efforts in order to increase output."

"You work for AVA?" Pokota asked. "Do you have any information about what happened?"

The little girl butted in, waving curiously at the stuffed animal. "Yeah! My mom's super important! You can ask her anything-"

"Quiet, Holly." The woman placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and tugged her back. "I apologize, your highness. My name is Lydia Morue, and I work for AVA's public relations department. I was asked to inform your father about the details AVA has released, but I unfortunately know only what they've told me. I can't offer any more information than I already have, and I have to meet someone in a few minutes besides. The mine is currently off-limits except to authorized personnel. I wish you good luck in your investigation."

Mrs. Morue grabbed her daughter's hand and dragged her away as she walked back toward the city center. Holly waved and called out a few words of encouragement as well, but they both disappeared into the crowd before anyone could say anything else to them. If she wasn't going to be any help, Pokota figured that he should talk to the mayor instead.

"Is there someone who works for AVA that we could get clearance from?" he asked. "Someone who could escort us up to the mine, perhaps, to see if there's any evidence of what happened? If we press AVA to release more details, I'm sure they would come forward."

There was a pause.

"…well, no one in Senagra actually works for AVA, but if you're looking for someone who knows the mine, Michael Belmonte is the person you want to see," the mayor answered. "Last I saw, I think he asked to speak with one of the royal guards stationed on the second floor."

"Is this Mr. Belmonte affiliated with AVA?" Pokota's father asked, releasing his grip from the mayor's shoulder and glancing toward the staircase to his right.

"No, but he's the only one AVA has authorized to go onto the mine's property."

"Is he a scientist or something?"

"No. An artist. He paints landscapes and goes up the mountain sometimes to work. AVA allows him onto the mine property so long as he stays out of the actual open pit area. Michael's a kinda timid guy, so I'm sure he's never once been to the pit itself, but he could direct you to the premises so that you could talk to an employee of AVA yourself."

Pokota hopped up onto his father's shoulder, pointing to the staircase. "Dad, can you let Adelaide and me handle this? We'll talk to Mr. Belmonte and go up to the mine tomorrow to see if we can get a permit to survey, or at least some information regarding mining activity from AVA. If the explosion wasn't them, they'll want to know who did it too, right?"

The king pondered it for a moment, and Adelaide could swear that he was watching her the whole time, as though trying to discern whether or not she was fit for the job. Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Fine, then. I'll leave it in your capable hands, Posel, Lady Adelaide."

Within a few minutes, the king had returned to his conversation with the mayor and Pokota and Adelaide were headed up the staircase in search of Mr. Belmonte. Adelaide had never seen the grand hall looking so desolate before, its floral decorations a sharp contrast to the cloud of melancholy that seemed to be covering everyone there. She expected a large search before they finally found the man they were looking for, but as they reached the top of the stairs, they could hear the voice of a man yelling and a woman trying to calm him. They looked up to see a familiar member of the royal guard in her civilian attire confronting a frantic, bespectacled man. The man was roughly middle aged, gaunt and bearded, and was running a hand through unruly locks of lavender hair that looked as though they'd been subjected to that treatment for quite a while.

" _Our house is on the western side of the village- there_ _'s_ no way _they could have made it to the institute! Please, you_ have _to let me go back-_ _"_

"Corporal Genevieve! What's going on here?" Pokota jumped in between the two to intervene, looking back and forth between the man and the guard.

The guard's face immediately took on a look of relief. "Prince Posel. Thank goodness you're here. This man has been pestering members of the guard for hours, insisting that he be allowed immediate reentry into Senagra. We've tried to tell him that it's too dangerous, but he won't listen-"

"That's exactly why I have to go!" the man interrupted. " _Please,_ if you're the prince, can't you make an exception in this case? My name is Michael Belmonte, andmy wife and son are still there! They didn't make it to Taforashia, so they must still be in the village, and I need to know if they're okay!"

Pokota was thrown off by the man's name for only a split second. He hopped onto the guard's shoulder so that he could better talk to Michael. "Please calm down, Mr. Belmonte. Search and rescue teams from several neighboring countries have been dispatched, and they're doing everything they can. A lot of people here have family members who are unaccounted for, and we've instructed them at least to wait until the crews in the village have given word that it's safe for civilian reentry. I know it's hard, and I know your intentions are good, but it's best to wait. In the meantime, we need your help. Are you-"

"Absolutely not!" Michael drew back from Pokota and the guard, hunching his shoulders angrily. "I-I won't agree to do anything for you unless I can go back for my wife and son. I'm sorry, but that's the way it's going to be."


	4. Reasonable Accomodations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**4- Reasonable Accomodations**

Absolutely not! I-I won't agree to do anything for you unless I can go back for my wife and son. I'm sorry, but that's the way it's going to be."

Before Pokota or the guard could say anything, Adelaide stepped in. "Okay. We'll have you escort us to the mine on the way to Senagra, then."

"Huh?"

Pokota leaned over and hissed at her. "Adelaide! What are you doing?"

"He wants to go to the village, right? The entrance to the mine is located just off the mountain pass between here and Senagra. Once he gets us to the mine and in touch with AVA personnel, he can continue on to the village with an official pass from Taforashia. We'll all get what we want that way."

Michael's mouth hung open for a second. "Y-you'd do that? You just want me to take you to the mine entrance and that's it? You'll let me go onto the village with no problems?"

"Yes." Adelaide nodded. "That's what you wanted, isn't it? You said you wouldn't help otherwise."

"I, uh…" Michael blushed a bright red and looked around awkwardly. "I didn't actually think you'd go for it… b-but I'll do my best! I'll make sure that you get clearance into the mine from AVA, no matter what! If I can see my family and know they're alright… I'll do anything! I'll do everything! _Thank you_!"

The guard let out a long sigh, as if she'd been holding her breath. "Well, it seems you have this under control, your highness, so I'll leave it in your hands." She turned and walked off, muttering something to herself under her breath.

Adelaide couldn't hear it, but something told her that it was about _her_.

* * *

Lina could feel Gourry's anxiety as he watched the healers at work over the woman. The confusion seemed to die down, and Gourry was allowed to approach her. He did so cautiously, asking something of one of the healers, and then sat down gently on the end of the cot so that he was facing her. She had been propped up on several pillows so that she could sit upright, and Gourry seemed wary of letting her fall asleep. Lina knew the drill- when treating internal injuries, it was important that the patient not fall unconscious for at least several minutes after the treatment to make sure that it was working properly. In addition to that, for fluid in the lungs, it was best to monitor the patient's breathing. Gourry seemed to be doing that by striking up a conversation with a series of gentle, almost rehearsed questions. Lina drew closer, interested in what was going on.

"My name's Gourry. What's your name, miss?"

"C-Carmen… Belmonte," she answered weakly, and paused to cough and clear her throat. Gourry gave her some time before he spoke again.

"It's nice to meet you, Carmen. How old are you- or, should I not ask?"

"That's alright. I'm fourty-one."

Gourry feigned shock. "Really? I thought you were much younger than that! Guess I should call you _Miss Carmen_ , shouldn't I?"

The woman smiled. "Call me whatever you like, dear."

"So, what do you do, Miss Carmen? Like, for a living?"

The smile on the woman's face turned a shade more melancholy. "Would you believe I'm a healer?"

"I have no reason not to." Gourry smiled. "You seem kind enough to be one. You said that you have family too, right- a husband and a son?"

"Ye-" Carmen fell into a fit of coughing for a moment and Gourry rested his hand on her back to help her clear her throat enough to speak. "-yes. My husband, Michael, and my son, Jaime."

"How long have you and your husband been together?" Gourry kept his hand on her back lightly, trying not to overstep any boundaries, but wanting to be sure that she knew he was there to help.

"Twenty-three years."

"Wow! What a long time- congratulations. I just got married about a year ago, so I hope Lina and I will be together for that long and longer!"

"Lina… is that the girl who helped me out…?"

"Yes, that's her!" Gourry beamed. "Isn't she great?"

Gourry's smile was infectious, and he soon had Carmen smiling and laughing.

"You have the same goofy smile that Michael always has. You love her very much, don't you?"

"…I _do_."

Lina hadn't heard that tone of voice from him in months. She could've melted. Briefly, she entertained the notion of approaching them to speak, but she stayed where she was, pressed against the wooden frame of the hospital tent, resting against the fabric flap. Gourry continued speaking to Carmen in the meantime, asking instead about her son.

"…and he loves playing outside," she was saying. "He's always climbing rocks and trees, and picking flowers and things to bring home. He goes out each day with a sketchbook to draw every new thing he can find…"

"He sounds like a charming boy. How old is he?"

"He just turned four last month."

" _Oh!_ A little one! He sounds adorable- and certainly accomplished for his age."

"You think?" Carmen giggled in response, stopping briefly to gently clear her throat again. It sounded like the magic had finally taken full effect and cleared her lungs of whatever had been clogging them. Gourry made a note of this and took his hand away from her back, stepping back to give her some room.

"You should get some rest now," he instructed, "and don't worry about your family. I'm sure they're perfectly okay. They're probably in Taforashia, more worried about you than you are about them. With the healing spells that were used, you should be as good as new in the morning- so long as you get plenty of sleep. Okay?"

He started to leave, but Carmen reached out and tugged on his sleeve.

"Gourry, wait."

"Hm?"

"I have a favor to ask you."

"…a favor? What do you mean?"

There was a pause, and Lina pushed the fabric door flap aside so that she could speak to the two. She wasn't fast enough to say anything before Carmen spoke again, however.

"There's something in my house that I want you to retrieve."

Gourry was already beginning to answer, jumping back to his soothing, patient voice. "We'll do everything we can, I promise-"

"- _depending_ ," Lina interrupted, "on what this something is."

* * *

Throughout the evening, Jaime didn't stray more than a few feet from Zelgadis' side, and eventually started leading the way and dragging him around. The group ate dinner, and Jaime, having not eaten since the night before, had a voracious appetite. Zelgadis could sense that the little boy not only had a high magical capacity, but had used a great deal of magical energy in the past 24 hours. Zelgadis wanted to ask him what spells he knew, but Jaime wouldn't stop talking about all manner of other things. It was difficult enough for Zelgadis just to keep up with the boy as they weaved their way through the hallways to check on the rooms, followed by the obedient tabby who was never more than a few centimeters behind Zelgadis.

"Nii-nii, d'you like birds? I like blue jays. They're fun a draw, yeah? D'you draw?"

"I do draw. I draw people most of the time, but sometimes I draw birds."

"Whas your favorite?"

"Bird?"

"Yeah!"

"Hmm… I suppose I like ducks. Have you ever heard of an eider?" Zelgadis closed the door of the last room on the hallway and began walking back toward the lobby.

"Nope."

"Well, it's a big duck and it lives in the ocean- on the coasts of Lyzeille, Dils, Zephilia, and Kataart mountains."

Jaime gasped loudly. "Whoa! It's cold inna mountains!"

"That's right." Zelgadis couldn't help a smile. "Eiders like the cold. They live way up on the tip of the Kataart peninsula, near the north pole. They fly down south to the coasts of Lyzeille and Zephilia in the winters, and go back north to breed in the summer. The females are brown and the males are black and white."

"How come they're different?"

"I don't know. That's just how they are. Lots of birds do that."

"Not blue jays."

"No, not blue jays."

The two re-entered the lobby area where many of the refugees were settling down to sleep. The elderly couple that they had been speaking to earlier waved and invited Jaime and Zelgadis to join them.

"Jaime, do you want to sleep here with us? We have a blanket and a pillow here just for you." The woman reached out for the boy, though he stayed back and hugged Zelgadis' legs. Zelgadis, in response, took Jaime's arms and moved him over to the blanket that the couple had prepared for him.

"You should stay here, Jaime- with people you know. I won't be far. I'll be in room 121, remember? Just down the hall. I'll see you again tomorrow morning."

Jaime looked discouraged and made a low whining sound, but the elderly man embraced him, and so he sat down in the man's lap. Zelgadis scooped up the cat in his arms and knelt down beside them.

"How about if Pickles stays with you tonight? She's a bit of a 'fraidy-cat, so you'll have to take care of her. Is that okay?"

It obviously didn't satisfy Jaime, but Pickles seemed comfortable in his lap, much to Zelgadis' relief, so he stood up again and waved to the group.

"Sir Greywords, there was a woman looking for you and Dr. Wilson earlier. I think it was the dean," the elderly woman offered, waving back. "You should probably find out what that was about before you retire for the night.

It didn't take long for Zelgadis to find Dr. Wilson and the woman. The two were waiting in the hallway for him, knowing that he'd come by on his way to bed. "Zelgadis!" Dr. Wilson exclaimed. "There you are. Dean Holden and I needed to speak to you"

Zelgadis immediately bowed in apology before he was even able to get a good look at her. "I-I'm so sorry for the trouble, De-"

"No, no," Dr. Holden touched his arm with one hand, waving the other dismissively. "We really appreciate the help you all are giving. I don't know how long you plan to stay, but I was telling Dr. Wilson that, if you like, you can come to the greenhouses tomorrow and pick out which specimens you'd like the information to take back with you to Ruvinigald. We'll hold the documents until you're ready to leave.

"I agreed to that," Dr. Wilson said, "but I wanted to make sure that it was alright with you. What do you think?"

Zelgadis was silent for a long moment. To be perfectly honest, he hadn't prepared himself for this to be such a long day, and all he wanted to do was to get some sleep. Plus… something else was bothering him, but his mind was too muddled to place it. He glanced back down the hallway briefly before answering.

"I think… that I appreciate you asking me for my opinion, but you should probably make the decisions for the next little while."

Within a few minutes, Zelgadis had wished the two good night and retired to the room he'd set aside for himself. He was greeted immediately upon entering by Amelia, who wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. They stayed there for a moment before Amelia broke away to kiss his cheek.

"Everything alright? You've been awfully quiet this evening."

"It's not that easy to talk while you're being constantly yelled at by a four year old." Zelgadis placed a hand on Amelia's head, giving her hair a gentle tousle. She let go of him, and he walked across the room to sit down on one of the beds. "As I figured, all the student rooms here have two single beds."

Amelia sat down beside him, swinging her legs back and forth playfully. "Which is one more than we need, isn't it? Seems like a waste."

Zelgadis turned to look at her with a frown. "Are you kidding? If the two of us try to share a bed this size, one of us is going to end up on the floor- and, knowing the way things go, it'll probably be _me_."

"There's no harm in trying, at least! And if you end up on the floor, I'll just sleep on the floor with you."

"The floor." Zelgadis' face remained deadpan. "How romantic. Just what every couple wants after being separated for more than a month."

Amelia giggled and tugged at his cheeks. "I'd rather be on the floor with you than in a bed by myself, silly!"

"…with the state of this floor?" Zelgadis looked down at his feet, and then back up at Amelia. "I'm not sure whether to be honored or disgusted."

"Honored." Amelia took the time for only a short answer before she kissed him. It was the first true kiss they'd shared that day- the first one they'd shared in many weeks. Just two weeks more and Zelgadis was to have a few days off, which he planned to spend in Seyruun, but… that was two weeks away, and neither would argue against enjoying what time they had together now. Zelgadis wasn't sure how it all happened so fast, but before he knew it, Amelia was on his lap, his arms around her waist and hers around his neck, running her fingers gently through his hair.

Zelgadis was the first to break away- to _pull_ away- out of breath and flustered. "I, uh, should probably go get my things." He stood up and moved toward the door. "I did pack a change of clothes in case this ended up becoming an overnight affair. They should be-"

"I have them. Dr. Wilson gave them to me." Amelia reached under the bed and grabbed a bag to toss to him. "Did you bring something to sleep in?"

"Yes." Zelgadis caught the bag and set it down on the desk to begin rummaging through it.

"Too bad."

"Amelia, _please._ _"_

"Alright, alright. If you really want me to cut the sweet talk, I can." Amelia sighed and lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Honestly, all the flirting aside, I'm really glad you were here. You helped out in a lot of ways that I might not have been able to- plus you made me feel better about this. What I really wanted to do was go help with search and rescue like Miss Lina and Mister Gourry. I wasn't sure what difference I could make if I was here. But seeing the way you cheered up Jaime… even if we couldn't stop the landslide, we can make a difference for these people."

"I was surprised by myself, to be honest. I wasn't trying hard with Jaime- he just seemed interested in everything I said. It felt so odd."

"Odd? In what way?" Amelia lifted her head a little. "You don't like children?"

"N-no! I really like- I _love_ children. But usually children don't… they don't love me. I'm no good with kids. I scare them off, even as a human." Zelgadis was busy changing, and at that point his chest was exposed. He glanced down at his skin as though examining it. "It must be my personality. There are some young volunteers that help with the archives in Ruvinigald, and they're all terrified of me. Just once it was nice to feel like someone actually looked up to me. Like I could be the role model that _I_ always wanted as a kid, and that Rezo… well, he turned out not to be-"

He hadn't noticed Amelia get up, so it was a surprise to him when she hugged him from behind. Her arms and hands were cold against his bare skin, but it felt good to have her close again. He could feel her press her cheek against his back, and he placed his hands over hers.

"Thank you, Amelia. I needed this."

He couldn't see her, but he could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke.

"You'll have to pay me back, then."

"I will, won't I-"

A loud pounding on the door cut him off, and Amelia reluctantly let go and moved to answer it while Zelgadis pulled his nightshirt over his head as quickly as he could. "Who is it? Is something-"

" _Nii-nii!_ "

Amelia opened the door and let in the little boy, who ran straight for Zelgadis and wrapped his arms around his legs. "It's for you."

Zelgadis knelt down so that he could look Jaime in the eyes. The boy was holding Pickles in an awkward way, so Zelgadis first removed his poor cat from the boy's grip before speaking. "What are you doing here? It's late. You should be asleep."

Jaime didn't budge. "I'm scared. I wanna be with Nii-nii."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll be just down the hall from you, and Pickles will be with you. Don't you want to go sleep with your friends?"

"They said I could stay with Nii-nii."

"That may be true, but-"

Jamie let out a little sob. "I wanna be with Mama and Papa, but Mama and Papa aren't here, and… Nii-nii is the only… the only one…" His words dissolved into unintelligible sniffles. Zelgadis pulled him close and looked up at Amelia, silently mouthing the word _please_.

Amelia sighed and walked over to give Jaime a gentle pat on the head. "Don't cry. You can stay with your Nii-nii tonight. There should be room in one of these beds for the two of you, at least. I'll take the other."

Jaime didn't let go of Zelgadis, but he did utter a muffled "thankyouuuu" into the fabric of Zelgadis' shirt.

Pickles was clearly relieved to be freed from her babysitter role, and curled up on the windowsill next to Amelia's cat, who hadn't been woken at all by the commotion. Thankfully for everyone, Jaime was quick to fall asleep once he was bundled up in bed next to Zelgadis. Amelia wasn't going to say anything about their discarded plans, but with the child so quickly unconscious, she felt brave enough to offer a joking whisper across the room.

" _You know, if you weren_ _'t in the mood, you could've just said so."_

Zelgadis, having a hard time seeing her face over the pillow, took her seriously. " _I didn_ _'t do this on purpose!_ " he hissed in reply, pointing at Jaime.

" _You said that you wanted a kid to look up to you. Now you have one that wants you as a surrogate parent._ _"_

Zelgadis was quiet for a moment. " _I_ _… don't think he really thinks of me as a parent. The way he talks, it's like he wants to be best friends with me. As much as a kid might love their parent, the relationship isn't quite like that. I wonder what he's thinking- like, why me?"_

Amelia giggled a little and sighed. " _Ah, well. It doesn_ _'t matter what his reasoning is. What matters is whether you're up to being that friend for him."_

" _That's true."_

" _All I know is… if my older sister was anywhere near this clingy, I now know why it took my parents so long after Gracia was born to have me."_

Zelgadis tried to stifle his laughter. " _I_ _'m an only child. Imagine what_ I _was like._ _"_

Amelia couldn't help but join in the muted laughter. Maybe it wasn't what they'd originally planned, but they were enjoying one another's company nonetheless.


	5. Cold Shoulder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**5- Cold Shoulder**

" _Mama, I don't understand. I thought Papa would be happy if I found his paintbrush…"_

_The little boy looked down at his feet from his perch on the kitchen table, kicking his legs back and forth. His mother stood over him from the other side, casting healing spells on all the cuts and bruises that marred his right cheek down to his neck and shoulder. It was obvious that he was trying not to cry, but it wasn_ _'t the physical pain that was bothering him._

"… _I wanted to make him happy… I thought, if I climbed down and brought it back, he'd be excited… so why was he angry?"_

_Carmen sighed and brushed a few unruly strands of hair out of the boy_ _'s face. "He's not angry about the paintbrush, sweetie. He's angry that you put yourself in danger to get it back."_

" _But he was so sad when he dropped it!"_

" _Yes. Sad because he'll have to make a trip back to the shop in Lyzeille where those brushes are made to get a new one." Carmen stepped back, making sure she hadn't missed any spots before grabbing a wet rag and tackling the dirt on the boy's face. He whined as she scrubbed against his cheek, but she continued to talk over him. "They may be rare, but with a little traveling and some money, he can always buy a new ox-hair brush. When it comes to his son, there's only one you. What would he do if something happened to you?"_

" _Nothing's gonna happen to me," the boy argued._

" _Climbing down a cliff face in the dark like you did today? Something could_ definitely _have happened. You could_ _'ve come away with a lot more than just a few scratches and bruises."_

" _But I didn't! And I got the paintbrush-"_

" _I know." Carmen moved the rag she was holding to pinch his nose in order to cut off his sentence. "And I'm proud of you for that. You're becoming a strong, intelligent, capable young man. Your Papa thinks that too. But he won't say it, because if he praises you for this, you might go do more dangerous things. We want you to explore and learn, but we also want you to be safe. If anything happened to you…" She let her voice trail off and pulled the rag away from his face. He hunched his shoulders and looked away, toward the window where the din of summer insects lit the night with their sound._

"… _I guess I owe Papa a 'pology, don't I? D'you think he'll forgive me? I didn't mean to make him cry."_

" _I think that, if you apologize to him, he'll understand." Carmen gently tousled his hair and gave him a nudge. "Doctor says you're good as new. Go talk to your papa now and make up, alright?"_

" _O-kay!" The boy grinned as he jumped down from the counter, rushing toward the door to the other room. However, he didn't make it all the way to the door before he blundered into someone going the opposite direction. "Ah! Papa!"_

_Michael almost lost his balance as he tried to move out of the way of his enthusiastic son._ _"Oops! I'm sorry. Where are you going in such a rush?"_

" _To find you!"_

" _Me?"_

" _Yeah. I wanna talk w' you."_

_Michael sighed and knelt down so that he could speak to the boy directly. He placed a hand on the child_ _'s shoulder as he began. "…I need to talk to you first."_

" _About what?"_

" _I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did. I didn't mean to get so angry. You were doing something nice for me, and not once did I ever give you my thanks. That was rude of me, and I'm sorry."_

" _No, no, no!" the boy responded, eliciting a startled reaction from his father. "I gotta 'pologize to you! I did a dangerous thing, and I could'a gotten really hurt. You wanted me to be safe, that's all. You're a good Papa."_

"… _you…" Michael looked at the boy first in awe, and then turned a brief, understanding glance to Carmen before replying. "…thank you. I'll promise to trust you more if you promise to be more careful next time. Is that okay?"_

" _Yes, I promise!" The child beamed as he responded. "And I promise never to make you cry again!"_

"What? _I-I wasn_ _'t crying…"_

" _You were crying, Papa."_

" _You were crying, dear."_

" _N-no! I wasn't! I was just… I mean… I was worried and… stressed… and I sort of… DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!"_

* * *

"Lina, it looks like your lighting spell is brighter than before. That must mean your magic will be back to normal soon, won't it?"

Gourry kept a firm grip on his own lantern, following Lina as she led slowly and carefully through the debris of what had been the Belmontes' house. She glanced back at him and nodded before continuing down a short flight of stairs into what seemed to be a basement area.

"Yeah, my magic should hopefully be back to normal by tomorrow afternoon- and a good thing too. Something about this place doesn't fe- hey! Watch your step on that last one there. Something about this place doesn't feel right to me."

The way the step moved under his weight made Gourry glad that Lina had warned him. He safely made it to the floor of the basement, glancing around as best he could see with Lina's spell. The room would have been frightening enough without the evidence of the disaster, but the added bonus of the debris from the ceiling clogging up half of it, it made Gourry shiver. As best he could see, the room was sunk into the ground halfway, enough so that it was kept a more constant temperature than the rest of the house, but was raised enough so that there were plenty of windows placed high along the walls to let in light. Right now there was nothing but the clouded glow of the moon streaming through them, but Gourry could imagine that it would've been pleasant during the day.

"Doesn't feel right?" Gourry asked, stopping to get a better sense of his surroundings. "What do you mean? Like, this room, or this house, or-"

"No, the whole village. This area. I get a weird vibe from it and I'm not sure why. The people seem nice enough, and I'm sorry for what's happened to them, but-"

She was interrupted by a loud crash behind them. One of the stairs had collapsed onto another and sent a spray of debris down underneath it. Gourry pushed on Lina from behind.

"Let's just look for the painting and get out of here. We can discuss this when we're somewhere safer."

"Right." Lina nodded, that makes sense. "We're looking for something about what size?"

"I don't remember the size. She just kinda gestured with her hands. All she said was, it was something she painted, so it'll look _way_ different than her husband's stuff."

"His stuff are landscapes and hers is a family portrait, right?"

"Yeah. A man, a woman, and a boy."

"Her, Michael, and Jaime?"

"I don't know who else it could be."

There was a silence, and the two began to search. Lina started looking through a drying rack that was against one wall, that held up multiple canvases. She touched the surface of one and found that the paint was still wet- that probably wasn't what they were looking for. She was thankful that she hadn't been wearing her gloves, as she could tell from the feel of the paint that it was oil based. Had she gotten it on white cloth, the stains would probably never come out.

On the adjacent wall to the drying rack, there were several small canvasses hanging on the wall. Lina approached them one by one, holding up her _lighting_ spell to examine them. The first one she came to was blank, which was puzzling enough, but the next one appeared to be some sort of poorly-composed abstract piece, with colors of paint smeared haphazardly all over the canvas. It didn't seem like the kind of thing that a landscape artist would do, and a closer inspection of the painting confirmed it, as Lina noticed a scribbled signature in black ink on the bottom corner. " _Jaime_ " it read, if you knew what you were looking at in the first place. So Mr. Belmonte, an accomplished artist, displayed his young son's artwork in his studio? Lina couldn't help a smile. It seemed such a fatherly thing to do.

The next two were also Jaime's, one similar to the first she'd seen, and the other a crudely represented landscape that looked like it must have been referenced from atop one of the mountains surrounding Senagra. Considering it had been painted by a four-year-old, Lina could see talent in the work. Jaime might grow up to be a painter like his dad, if he continued the way he did. He clearly knew how to handle the brush, and the colors were blended in such a way that it wasn't… _totally_ jarring to the eye, as many young children might have painted. Lina felt a pang of sadness as she pictured an enthusiastic little boy running home to show off his work to his parents. Now his home was in shambles, and he probably wasn't even sure if his mother was alive. As she moved her attention to the next painting along the wall, she wished there was more she could do.

If she hadn't been paying attention, she might've overlooked it.

The canvas was hanging by one corner, the other having pulled away from the wall from the force of the landslide. Lina stopped and examined it, thinking first that it was another one of Jaime's works. It was too simplistic to have been drawn by an adult. But, no, the medium on this one was totally different. There was a texture to it that was characteristic of oil paints, and the subject was just as Carmen had described: a family of three, featuring a woman, a man, and a young boy. In the corner, there was a scribble that looked to be a signature, but Lina couldn't read it. The "C" in Carmen was the only letter that was legible, the rest being nothing but scribbles, and if Lina hadn't known that Carmen's last name was Belmonte, she would've sworn that the last name started with a "G"… or was it a "D?" An "S," maybe? The cursive was horrible.

_Why is it that healers always have completely unintelligible handwriting?_

"Hey, Gourry! I found it!" Lina called, trying her best to be heard over the sound of wind whistling over the broken glass in the windowpanes. "Let's get out of here before anything else collapses, okay?"

"Thank goodness!" Gourry's voice echoed back, and the two met up by the staircase, Lina shining her spell over the broken steps to make sure neither of them tripped. Gourry was following her as he often did, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed he was carrying something.

"What's that?"

"Oh, it's, um… a painting," he answered sheepishly. "I thought I'd- er, well, I want to ask Carmen if her husband was planning to sell it, and how much he'd want for it."

Lina hopped up above the broken step and debris, offering one hand to Gourry in order to help him up as well. "Gourry, this is _not_ the time to be shopping for home decor. I'm pretty sure selling paintings is the last thing on Mister Belmonte's mind right now. And besides, we have nowhere to put it."

"I know, but… well, I figured I could hold onto it until we get a place of our own." Gourry took her hand only long enough to climb up beside her, and then took off ahead of her up the rest of the staircase. "Looking at the way things are, don't you think the Belmontes could use the money?"

"…I guess." Lina sighed. "Do whatever you want, then. What's so special about the painting anyway? What's it of?"

"It's a snowscape. I just think it's pretty. That's all." There was no hesitance in Gourry's voice about answering, but didn't eagerly show off the painting either. "I'm sure everyone's asleep. We can talk to Miss Carmen about the paintings tomorrow."

Lina nodded. "Okay, then. That's fine." Once back outside, she got a better opportunity to look at the work she was holding, the full moonlight illuminating the colors better. Even with the simplistic, stick-figure-like art style, there was something odd about the painting. It didn't quite fit what Carmen had said. The child in the middle… maybe it was meant to be a caricature, but it looked too old for only four years. Either Carmen had lied about her son's age, or the child in the painting _wasn_ _'t_ Jaime.

Or, of course, Carmen was simply a terrible artist.

Shrugging it off, Lina made her way into the tent where a pair of cots had been set up for her and Gourry. Lucan was there waiting for them, sitting with his head resting on Lina's bag. It was the only way she and Gourry could leave him alone- get him to stay with something that smelled like them.

"Gourry, you can put your painting over here with this one if you like-"

"Nah. I'll keep it with my stuff for now. Thanks, though." By the time he answered, Gourry had already slipped the canvas in with his own belongings. Lina frowned in his direction, knowing that she'd never get a straight answer from him if she questioned him seriously.

"Geez, Gourry. It's like you really don't want me to see what's on that canvas. Snowscape, huh? I'll bet it's a lewd picture of some girl-"

" _Lina._ " Gourry frowned. "Why would a happily-married _landscape artist_ paint something like that? And why would I _want_ it anyway? I _told_ you, it's just a snowscape."

"Whatever you say, Gourry." Lina made a show of turning away. "I hope she's pretty, at least."

Gourry didn't respond at first, setting his sword aside and removing his shoes so that he could make himself comfortable in the cot. "I'm too tired to argue with you tonight," he finally murmured as he rested his head against the pillow.

Lina frowned. She hadn't meant to upset him.

"Hey, uh, I was just teasing. I'm sure the snow painting will look nice hanging up in our bedroom one day. You always did love the snow- much more than I do, that's for sure."

There was no response, so Lina walked over and sat down on her cot facing him.

"Um, the cots here are kinda lonely. What d'you say we push ours together and make it a double? It'll be warmer that way too. Don't you think so?"

"…"

"Gourry?"

"…thanks, but I'm not cold." Gourry turned his back to Lina and pulled the blankets over his head, mumbling a muffled " _good night_."

Lina sat quietly, watching him for a few moments before she turned her attention to preparing for bed herself. She tried to settle into the cot, but the blanket was rough and the metal frame seemed to chill the whole thing. It wasn't Gourry's warmth that she'd been concerned about.

"Hey, Lucan? C'mere, boy. Come keep Mama warm tonight, will you?"

At the sound of his name, the puppy jumped up and ran over to Lina. She slid over a little to allow him to hop onto the cot, and he curled up by her side. His head was resting on her hip and his tail was in her face, but she really didn't care at that point. He was there with her, he was warm, and he cared.

_Gourry, what happened to_ _'_ I hope Lina and I will be together for that long and longer _?_ _' What's in that painting that made you so sad?_

She briefly entertained the notion of waiting until he'd fallen asleep and sneaking a look at the canvas, but she wasn't able to stay awake long enough to see it through.

* * *

"H-hey, wait up! I can't keep up with this pace…"

Adelaide and Pokota were already a fair distance down the trail when they finally heard Michael's voice from behind them. Pokota was leading the way from the air, and Adelaide was following on the ground, but she hadn't realized how fast she walked… or, rather, how slow their so-called "guide" was. Pokota flew down and perched on her head so that he could speak to Michael.

"You okay there? I thought you wanted to see your family."

"I… do… b-but I'm no good with…" Michael finally caught up to them and stopped to catch his breath. "…this sort of thing. I'm more of a… slow-and-steady kind of guy…" He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "When I go out to paint, I'm usually bringing supplies with me, so I have to climb slowly and carefully. I'm doing my best, you'll just have to be patient with me."

Adelaide and Pokota glanced at one another and sighed.

"Fine. We won't push you, but it's already mid-morning. If we want to reach the mine in time for Pokota and me to get back to Taforashia by nightfall, we have to move quickly."

"…I know…" Michael murmured. He frowned and scurried ahead as best he could. Adelaide and Pokota exchanged another glance, neither looking very convinced.

" _Do you really think this guy can help us negotiate with AVA?_ " Pokota whispered. " _He seems a little_ _… how do I put it…?"_

" _Flighty? Nervous? A bit of a pushover?"_

" _Exactly."_

Adelaide shrugged and continued down the path. "Well, we won't know anything until we actually get to the mine, so there's no use in worrying about it. Let's just keep moving and worry about what we're going to do when we finally-"

"OW! Hey!"

Their conversation was interrupted by Michael's voice from far ahead of them. Adelaide perked up and dashed off in his direction, while Pokota took off straight upward to get a better view of the surroundings. Michael was stopped at a point in the mountain path that looked entirely nondescript. There didn't seem to be any reason for him to have stopped- no roots he might have tripped on or rocks that he might have blundered into. There wasn't any sign of wildlife in the area either, and for a moment, Pokota had no idea what had stopped the man. However, once Adelaide caught up to him, it was apparent. She stopped at the same place that he had and reached out her hand.

"…a barrier…?" Pokota murmured. He flew in closer and landed on Adelaide's head again. "What's going on? Is there something here?"

"See for yourself," Adelaide replied, reaching out and placing the palm of her hand against the barrier. A low glow of energy surrounded her hand, and Pokota could feel a sensation almost akin to static electricity in the air. He reached out and touched the barrier himself. It seemed harmless enough, but it was definitely solid.

"What is it?" Michael asked, drawing closer. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's a black-magic ward," Adelaide answered. "Someone doesn't want us getting into the mine."


	6. Between a Rock and a Hard Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**6- Between a Rock and a Hard Time**

"Alright, Jaime. How's that?" Zelgadis stepped back, allowing the boy to look at his reflection in the mirror. Jaime admired the new clothes he'd been given, twirling around a couple of times.

"They're comfy. I like them." Bored of the mirror, he ran over and jumped onto the bed. Of the two cats that were sleeping at the foot, only the smaller one was startled. "Tub-Tubby-Tubbs," Jaime poked at the larger cat's fluffy white belly, but lost interest as he saw no reaction and turned instead to the little tabby. "Peck-peck~" he cooed, beckoning her closer. "Peck-ellllls~"

" _Pickles_ ," Zelgadis corrected, picking up the cat in his arms and sitting down beside Jaime so that the boy could pet her. She was calm enough in Zelgadis' arms to put up with just about anything- even a tiny hand rubbing her fur the wrong way.

"Pickle," Jaime spoke again. "How come you named her like that?"

"I didn't. Her first owners did."

"How come they named her like that?"

"I don't know. She's a mackerel tabby, so maybe they named her that because you pickle mackerel."

"Whassa mackerel?"

"It's a fish. It's delicious but it goes bad really quickly, so unless you eat it fresh, you have to pickle it."

"Oh! I never tried that one before."

"You'll have to try it sometime, then-"

The door to the room opened, and Amelia peeked her head in. "Zelgadis? Jaime? Are you two ready for breakfast? They have coffee and pastries in the lobby."

"Yay! Yummy!" Jaime jumped off the bed and ran toward the door, stopping only when he realized that Zelgadis wasn't following him. "Nii-nii, you coming?"

"Dr. Wilson was looking for you, actually," Amelia spoke up. "He's in the lobby too- he was saying something about visiting a greenhouse?"

"That's right. For our research." Zelgadis had pulled out his canteen and was refilling the water dish he'd set out for Pickles. She stood by him, happily lapping up the water even before he'd finished pouring. "We're going to select some specimens and take copies of their records back to Ruvinigald. They're going to set the records aside for us so that we can pick them up when we leave."

"Do you know when that will be?"

"Not with the situation the way it is, no."

"Nii-nii," Jaime tugged on the hem of Zelgadis' shirt. "Can I come too?"

"To the greenhouse?"

"Yeah!"

"Sorry, but it's a place where people spend a lot of time doing research. There are fragile plants there, and probably dangerous ones too. It's better if you stay here."

Jamie whined. "But I wanna come wiiiith you!"

"No. You can't come."

As the boy's face contorted into a sob, Zelgadis realized that he had given the Wrong Answer, and had very little time to correct his statement. He looked helplessly at Amelia, who was preoccupied with feeding her cat. Even with food right in front of him, Tubbs still was willing to look back at Zelgadis, and there seemed to be a genuine look of pity in his half-closed eyes.

Zelgadis sighed. Even the cat knew that there was no use fighting this battle.

* * *

Lina awoke the next morning to find that she was alone in the tent. Gourry and Lucan were both gone, probably out to get breakfast or patrol the area, which wasn't surprising. She was a little mad that they hadn't woken her up, but in a way, she was also relieved that she wouldn't have to speak to Gourry right away. She wasn't sure if he was feeling better, and if not, what she was supposed to say to him.

Taking a glance out of the tent flap to make sure that they weren't returning anytime soon, Lina walked over to Gourry's cot and poked at his things a little. She wasn't going to pry, but she just had to see what that painting looked like. It wasn't hard to find the canvas, considering how light Gourry generally traveled, but when Lina turned it over, she was taken by surprise. It… _was_ a snowscape after all. Why had she thought it wouldn't be? She ran her fingers over the texture of the oil paint, her eyes directed by the details to a corner of the painting where a lone wolf was drawn pawing plaintively at something in the snow. Lina had an inkling that she knew what it was supposed to be, but the thought sent a shiver through her, and she ignored it. Her attention was drawn moreso by the signature in the opposite corner of the painting. She hadn't gotten a good look at Michael's signatures the night before, noting simply that he signed only his initials in a unique script. This was the same, but she could see it clearly, and it wasn't what she'd expected.

" _MG?_ " she murmured. "What's _G_? Come to think of it, Carmen signed hers with a different surname too, didn't she…?"

Lina set the snowscape aside and turned to look for Carmen's painting, but it wasn't where she'd left it. Gourry must have taken it to Carmen already.

After getting dressed and combing her hair, Lina walked out to the hospital tent to see if Gourry was there speaking with Carmen. She found neither of them, surprisingly enough, so she asked the first person she came across. It happened to be Shay, who had spent the full night doing more search and rescue and was on his way to finally get some sleep. He directed Lina to where the others were eating breakfast, saying that Carmen had gone out to help make tea for the crew that was working.

"She's already up and around?"

"Apparently. Seyruun's healers are the best in the business, y'know. Though, for the spells to work so well, she had to have a pretty high magic capacity too."

Lina shrugged. "She did say that she is a healer herself, so she uses magic on a regular basis. But even so, magical capacity can only be developed to a certain extent. You have to be born with an exceptionally high capacity to begin with for that sort of thing…"

Once she reached the campfire area, it didn't take long for Lina to locate both Carmen and Gourry. Carmen saw Lina first and waved.

"Miss Lina! Good morning!"

Lina wasn't able to get very far before she was nearly knocked over by an enthusiastic puppy. Lucan jumped up and pressed his paws against her legs, his tail wagging so quickly that Lina could barely see it. Gourry wasn't far behind, and he greeted Lina with a smile, much to her relief.

"Oh good, you're here! I was just about to come wake you up. Sorry for taking off this morning, but I got asked to help move some boxes of food they were bringing in to the hospital."

"No, it's okay." Lina waved a hand. "I'm just glad to see you up and around so early."

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, lately you've been so…" Lina stopped herself abruptly and turned her head away. "U-um, have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"No. Do you want to eat together?"

"Sure."

The two each got a bowl of the sticky porridge that was warming over the campfire and took them to one of the nearby covered areas to sit down. The clouds seemed to be threatening rain, and they knew that meant trouble with the continued threat of aftershocks, so making sure that the few people left unaccounted for were found was of utmost importance. Lina was eating quickly so that she could get to work right away, but she noticed that Gourry was picking at his. Rather than say anything, she let her spoon stray over toward his bowl. He caught the motion out of the corner of his eye and swiftly deflected her utensil away from his food.

"Nice try."

"You didn't look interested."

Gourry laughed and conspicuously turned his attention to his breakfast as he replied. "Me, not interested in food? What world are you living in today?"

Lina wasn't sure how to answer that, so she just laughed back. "Good question."

Lucan was walking back and forth between them, whining and pressing his nose against their legs, but they were too wrapped up in eating to pay much attention to him. Food first, talking second. That was the general rule for their mealtime, and Lina enjoyed getting some sense of normalcy back to their routine amidst the uncertainty of the situation. There was another few moments of silence, and Lina found the bottom of her bowl with only some reluctance. The porridge wasn't as sweet as she'd have liked it, but it was filling, and she appreciated that. She was about to stand up and take her bowl up to the makeshift kitchen area when she heard Gourry clear his throat.

"Um, Lina…?"

"Hm? What's up?"

"About last night…" He was speaking to her, but his attention was fixed very firmly on his own empty bowl. "I'm sorry. I was tired and not feeling so great, but that's not an excuse to have been so cold to you. You were just trying to cheer me up. I hope you're not mad."

Lina was so surprised, she laughed in spite of herself. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm not mad. I was worried because you seemed upset, but I wasn't mad at you for it. We're always together. It's only normal that you'd need personal space at times."

"Right, but…"

"And anyway," She stood up, pointing towards his face so that her finger was nearly touching his nose. "you need your rest. There are still people here who need our help, and we've gotta do everything we can. No slacking off, okay?"

Gourry smiled. "You've got it, Lina! I'll work my hardest!"

He ran off to continue working with the group he'd been helping earlier, so Lina took both bowls and returned them to the kitchen area. As she did so, she happened to notice out of the corner of one eye that Gourry stopped by the tent and received some tea. The woman who gave it to him was easily recognizable, and Lina wanted to take to both of them, but by the time she made it over there Gourry was already gone. Still, Carmen welcomed her with a friendly wave.

"You're up and around faster than I expected," Lina commented with a smile. "I'm glad you're feeling better. We need all the healers we can get to help out around here. What was that tea you gave Gourry just now?"

"Chrysanthemum. Would you like some? I also have some ginger tea, if you're interested."

"...ginger? Yeah, that'd be nice. I'll take some."

At Lina's request, the woman began preparing a drink. She didn't say anything, so Lina cleared her throat and continued with the conversation. She'd noticed Gourry's hesitance earlier in apologizing, which wasn't like him, and she was curious as to where it had come from.

"Y'know, Gourry and I had a bit of a disagreement last night, and this morning he apologized to me even though it wasn't his fault. You wouldn't happen to know something about that, would you?"

Carmen handed the container of tea to Lina with a soft smile. "He told me about what happened with his brother."

"His…?" It took a moment for Lina to place. Of all the things that she imagined were troubling Gourry, that hadn't been high on the list. "Ah, right. His brother."

"The way he's feeling right now, he can't help wanting time alone, but nothing's going to improve if he isolates himself."

"Sounds like you've had experience with this sort of thing," Lina responded.

"I've seen it happen before. When my husband and I lost our oldest son, my husband didn't want anything to do with his family or friends. He felt lost. I think Gourry might be feeling a bit lost right now."

Lina wanted to ask how Gourry could possibly still feel lost months after all the confusion had died down. She wanted to ask what she could do to help- if there was anything she could do to help. She wanted to know how to get the old, happy-go-lucky Gourry back. But she couldn't get past what Carmen had said. The painting… it made sense now.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know… a-about your son, I mean."

"It's alright. It's been years." Carmen reached out and brushed a few strands of hair out of Lina's face. Lina stiffened, but didn't move and didn't say anything. It was probably some subconscious motherly thing that she didn't understand yet. "But even so, no amount of time will ever make up for the loss. It's relationships and enthusiasm that make life worth living again. Remember that with Gourry, will you?"

"...okay." Lina nodded, not sure what else to say. She turned and waved before heading in the direction that Gourry had gone. "Uh, thanks for the tea!"

"You're welcome! Good luck!"

Lina wasn't really watching where she was going, and it didn't take long before she ran into someone going in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, would you- Gourry? What do you think you're doing? Pay attention to people around you!"

Gourry completely ignored the scolding she was giving him. "Lina, we need your help. Do you know anything about magical barriers?"

"...huh? Magical barriers?"

* * *

"It's blocking the whole trail. If we can't break the barrier, we can't get to Senagra." Adelaide was thinking out loud without realizing it, and almost immediately regretted it. Michael was too anxious already to handle a setback like this.

"NO! We HAVE to get there! There MUST be another way!" The man began to pound on the barrier, as though his other way was simply to break through by force. Pokota hopped over onto his shoulder, trying to calm him.

"You can't do that. It's a black magic barrier, so physical attacks won't have any effect."

"Pokota," Adelaide jumped in, "fly up and see how high the barrier extends. If we could fly over it, it would make things easier."

"Right." Pokota nodded and cast a Ray Wing spell that would propel him straight upward. Adelaide and Michael watched from the ground, hoping to see him make progress, but no matter how high he went- up until he appeared as nothing but a speck in the sky- he didn't seem to be able to break through.

"It's a perfect ward," Pokota called as he descended back to the ground. "There aren't any vertical boundaries."

"So we can't fly over it?" Michael asked.

"No. Can't tunnel under it either." Pokota landed on Adelaide's shoulder, shaking his head. "And since it's invisible, it's hard to tell exactly what the horizontal boundaries are."

"But what's it doing here?" Adelaide asked. "This is the path that everyone from Senagra took to Taforashia just yesterday, isn't it?"

"It is."

Michael looked around nervously. "Do you think one of those officials that told us it was too dangerous to go back to Senagra did this to prevent people from passing?"

"No." Adelaide was quick to dismiss his suspicions. "If that were the case, it would be a barrier with horizontal and vertical limits. This is a ward. It's meant to protect something."

"So is someone trying to protect Senagra?"

"Protecting a disaster-stricken village by preventing entrance from outside aid? I doubt it," Pokota shook his head again. "The overlap of the mountain pass is probably unintentional. Someone's protecting something else."

"But what else is there?" Michael went back to pounding his hand against the side of the ward. "The mine, maybe?"

"That's what I was thinking."

Adelaide stepped back, glancing up at the area that was blocked by the barrier. "Pokota, I want to see something. Can you cast a _Dark Mist_?"

"What are you-?" Pokota was confused for only a split second before he realized what she meant. "Oh! _DARK MIST!_ _"_

" _DIEM WIND_!"

Adelaide's wind spell sent the inky cloud flying towards the barrier. It was naturally deflected, and sent to the sides, allowing them to briefly see the outline of the ward as far as it would go before the mist dissipated. Michael yelped as the mist engulfed him, but he was only startled. He wasn't a sorcerer, but he knew enough about magic to know that the mist was harmless by itself. However, a scream from a short distance away showed that there was someone in the vicinity who didn't.

" _EEEK! GET IT OFF!_ _"_

Adelaide flinched and took a step back as the mist cleared, searching for the source of the scream. It was a little girl's voice, one that she had an inkling she'd heard before, but couldn't place. "Hello? Who's there?"

A girl poked her head out from behind a large rock feature and scurried over to Adelaide, latching onto her skirt. "What was that? That was scary!"

"…we were trying to see where the center of the ward is…" Adelaide murmured, staring down at the girl. She was a spritely, freckled thing who couldn't be more than ten years old, with a pair of bouncy red pigtails. Adelaide recognized her right away. "You're that girl from yesterday!"

Pokota scurried over and hopped up on Adelaide's shoulder. "We saw you earlier. Your mother works for AVA, right?"

The girl nodded. "I'm Holly."

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see Mom's work! She never tells me anything about what she does, and finally when I get to spend time with her, she goes off and leaves me." Holly clenched her fist, holding on tighter to Adelaide's dress. "I heard you guys were going to the mine, so I followed you. I thought, if I showed Mom that I'm not a helpless little kid, she'd let me come with her to work."

"I see…" Adelaide glanced uneasily at Pokota. "But don't you think that there's a reason your mom didn't want you coming with her? Copper mines can be dangerous places, with lots of equipment and people. She doesn't want you getting hurt."

Michael had run over, and was standing over the group. "Lady Adelaide is right. Your mom is trying to protect you."

"But I miss her! I finally get to come home from school, and this is what happens?"

"School?" Pokota asked.

"Yeah. I go to school in Lyzeille, so I never see Mom. I'm on break now, so-"

"A boarding school? Saint Galbat's?" Adelaide knelt down and put a hand on Holly's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's it!"

"I studied abroad there for a semester! I graduated from Saint Cecelia's, in Seyruun."

"The music school?"

"That's the one!" Adelaide clapped her hands. "I can't believe it! I had so much fun at Galbat's. It's been… almost four years now. Does the fat mockingbird still sit on the bush outside of the cafeteria every day?

"It does! We've even heard it mimicking the sound of the school bells lately. My friend is doing an independent study on mockingbird calls over the break."

"No way! That sounds exciting-"

Pokota grabbed ahold of Adelaide's braid and tugged on it, eliciting a surprised whine from her. "I know you're having fun reminiscing, but we need to make a decision. If we can't get past the ward, we need to return to Taforashia and tell everyone what's going on."

Adelaide jerked her head away. "I know, I know. A ward is always located around a central point, and from the curve that we could see from the earlier smoke, it looks like the center is in that direction."

"The mine," Pokota nodded. "I see. The ward must have been set to protect the mine. But why? You don't think the explosion that the seismologists were talking about was an outside attack-"

" _Holly? What are you doing here with these people?_ I thought that we agreed you would stay at the grand hall."

The group stopped, hearing a voice from the other side of the ward. Holly jumped and ran over as close as she could before she was stopped by the barrier. "Mom!"

"I was ordered out here because there was a commotion." The woman made no movement to greet her daughter, instead glaring at Adelaide and Pokota. "What's going on?"

Before either of them could answer, Michael jumped in.

"We need to get to Senagra, and your ward is blocking the mountain pass. Let us through."

Lydia sneered at him. "The mine is currently undergoing important surveying work due to the earthquake. I'm sorry, but we can't make exceptions for curious people who want to poke around for no reason."

" _No reason_? My wife and son are still in Senagra! They could be hurt, or worse, and I refuse to stand around when I could be helping them! I don't have any business with the mine or AVA- please, you've _got_ to let us through."

There was desperation in Michael's voice, and Adelaide reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder as Lydia continued.

"With all due respect, Mister Belmonte, _go back to Taforashia_."

"Wha-"

"You may not have business with the mine, but I know from our interactions yesterday that your companions do. Prince Posel has no authority over AVA's activities and without a warrant, he cannot legally trespass on mine property when we're closed to the public like this. AVA is too busy to waste time with the lot of you- _go back to Taforashia._ "

Holly leaned against the barrier, crossing her arms across her chest. "Sorry, guys. If my mom says that you have to go back, then there's nothing you can do. You should just listen to her."

"That means you too, Holly. Go back with them."

" _Huh?_ No! I wanna see what you're doing! You never tell me about your work! Can't I at least do something? I'll help, I promise!"

Lydia's expression softened a little as she considered the girl's plea. "You really want to help, do you?"

"Yes! Of course I do!"

A smile spread across the woman's face. "This man here, Mister Belmonte, is in a tough spot. He's lost his home and doesn't know what's happened to his family, and that sadness might make him do dangerous things. He needs a chaperone to make sure he's safe. Will you do that for him?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Thank you to everyone who's been following along so far. I can't believe it's already been this long, but next week's update is going to be my last for a while, as I'm taking a summer hiatus due to travel. Updates should pick up again in early July. I appreciate everyone's support, and hope you continue to enjoy the story!))


	7. Seeds of Doubt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for being late with this! Exams have been brutal this semester, but they're behind me now as well as my thesis, so I'm looking forward to a chance to get away from schoolwork for a while. Thanks for following along, and I hope you enjoy. As usual, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction.

 

**7- Seeds of Doubt**

"This man here, Mister Belmonte, is in a tough spot. He's lost his home and doesn't know what's happened to his family, and that sadness might make him do dangerous things. He needs a chaperone to make sure he's safe. Will you do that for him? That will keep both him and the mine safe."

Holly frowned. "Is that important?"

"Very."

"Wait, wait!" Michael bristled. "I'm a fourty-year-old man, and I don't need to be babysat by a ten-year-old. What I need is to be there for my family-"

Holly kicked him in the shin. He let out a yelp, more in surprise than in pain, but any complaints he might've had were drowned out by the girl's response. "If my mom wants me to chaperon you, I'm gonna be the best-est chaperone you've ever had! Stop yelling and let's go back to Taforashia before you hurt yourself."

Pokota and Adelaide cringed as they looked at one another, but neither said anything. Perhaps it would take a child with no reservations to talk some sense into Michael. They felt sorry for him, but at the same time they imagined that it might be the best thing for his safety to have someone watching him. No offense to the guy, but he seemed the impulsive type who would do something reckless if allowed the chance.

Not that either of them was one to talk, but…

"Pokota," Adelaide whispered as they began walking back. She kept her voice low, in hopes that Holly and Michael wouldn't pay attention to the conversation. "Something's bugging me."

"What's up?"

"Well, it's just… it doesn't make sense that they have a ward like that up. If they're just surveying earthquake damage, what's the point? Wards like that take a lot of energy to create, and it just seems more trouble than it's worth."

Pokota thought it over for a moment. He hopped down from her head onto her shoulder so that they could converse more easily. "What are you saying? That they're hiding something?"

"I'm afraid that they are…"

"You don't think it really was their explosion that caused the landslide, do you? If so, they might be trying to destroy evidence that would show any liability for their actions. Mrs. Morue was pretty adamant yesterday that there was an earthquake, yet I didn't feel anything, and Taforashia's seismic data showed nothing. We do have a minor fault that runs through Taforashia, so the seismologists have plenty of experience measuring the small tremors that are common there." Pokota shifted his weight, resting his head in his hand. "We haven't got a report on the official loss of life and loss of property, but it's bound to be costly. If AVA comes under fire for their connection with the landslide, it could develop into an awful scandal. But if we have no way to connect them to it…" His voice trailed off as he thought it over further.

"I thought of that," Adelaide responded, "but I had another idea too."

"Oh?"

"Let's say the landslide was caused by an explosion in the mine. Maybe the ward was created to keep nosy people out. But a protective barrier like that… it almost seems like they're trying to protect the mine from something much more powerful. What if the explosion at the mine wasn't AVA's doing, but was an act of sabotage from an outside group?"

" _Sabotage_?" Pokota choked. "You really think so? But if so, wouldn't AVA have publicly announced it instead of trying to cover it up?"

"Maybe, if they wanted sympathy. But if they're concerned about their image, they might value honor more. It's possible they don't want to appear vulnerable to the public, so they're hiding that they were attacked."

"We can't tell anyone in Taforashia about these ideas. We have no evidence to substantiate them, and it could seem like we're trying to spread negative rumors either way."

"I know." Adelaide glanced away and tossed her braided hair over her shoulder nervously. "But that doesn't mean we should forget about it. I want to do some research into this AVA company. It must have a farther-reaching presence than just this one mine. Perhaps if we can figure out who might have reason to sabotage AVA, it will lead us somewhere…"

"That's true. I'll leave you in charge of that, then."

* * *

"Ooh, it's super hot in here! 's like it's summer already!"

Jaime giggled, sticking close to Zelgadis' side as they move through the southeast entrance of the botanical institute's greenhouse complex. Amelia gestured ahead for them to follow her.

"We have plants growing here from all over the world," she spoke, trying to tug Jaime's hand in her direction. "Let Zelgadis go with Dr. Wilson. They need to pick out some specimens for their research. If you want, I can take you to see the largest flower in the world-"

"No!" Jaime pressed himself against Zelgadis' leg. "I wanna pick spes-mems with Nii-nii!"

"But-"

"He's fine," Dr. Wilson broke in. "So long as he doesn't wander off into any restricted areas, it's not a problem having him around. We could use his help, right Zelgadis?"

"Of course." Zelgadis waved at Amelia. "Don't worry so much. I don't mind having him around."

"That's not the-" Amelia stopped and reached out for them, but no one seemed to hear her. Jaime started running ahead, and they had to follow along without paying too much attention to what Amelia was saying. She sighed and turned away. If they didn't need her around to watch Jaime, there really wasn't any point in her being there, right?

"First things first, we're looking for a plant called a _silk tree._ It's a big green shrub with fern-like leaves and hairy-looking purple flowers. Can you help us find one of those, Jaime?" Dr. Wilson was glancing down at his clipboard the whole time, but he had a smile on his face as though he were talking face to face with the little boy.

"Yes sir!" Jamie chirped in reply, and ran off down the path.

Zelgadis laughed as he watched the child run. "If we older people could have just a fraction of that energy, we could get so much more done," he suggested, giving Dr. Wilson a playful nudge. Dr. Wilson, however, wasn't having that, and he reached out to tug on Zelgadis' cheek teasingly.

" _We older people_? Kid, I remember when you were that small like it was yesterday! You were just like Jaime when you were his age. Always full of energy."

Zelgadis pulled away and rubbed his cheek. "I was?"

"You don't remember? You used to drive your parents absolutely nuts, the way you ran around and got into everything. No one could keep up with you."

"Th-that was a long time ago." Zelgadis blushed.

"Not to me it wasn't." Dr. Wilson shook his head wistfully. "But, all the same, there's no shame in it. Being outgoing and curious is how children learn and grow. If you hadn't been such an excitable boy, you might not be the intelligent man you are today. Jaime reminds me a lot of you. I suspect he'll be quite talented when he grows up."

"Talented, huh…? I don't know…"

"Nii-nii! Doc Wil! I foun'it! Look, look!"

The sound of Jaime's yelling brought them out of their conversation. Zelgadis was the first to reach him, and when he did, he found that the boy's sense of plant identification was spot-on.

"Nice work, Jaime. This is it." Zelgadis pulled his bag off his shoulder and tugged a reference book out of it. "Dr. Wilson and I will need to examine the shrubs that are here, so you stick close with Amelia. Is that okay?"

"Stick with A-nee! Yes, Yes."

Jaime's response was so obedient and Zelgadis and Dr. Wilson were so oblivious to their surroundings that neither thought anything of it until a few minutes later, when Zelgadis had recorded the information of the tree they were intent on studying. He let Dr. Wilson look over the write up before approving it, and the two folded it neatly and tucked it away for safekeeping as they moved onto the next plant.

"Our next one is…" Zelgadis glanced down at the list. " _Wisteria sinensis._ Jaime? We're looking for a purple vine next. Can you find a vine with lots of purple… Jaime? Amelia? Where'd they go?" A glance around the general area provided no response, and Zelgadis' first instinct was annoyance that Amelia and Jaime might've gone off somewhere without them. However, as he recalled how stubborn Jaime had been with her before, it didn't make sense. "Wilson? Have you seen Jaime?"

"No. I'm not sure where he went. Didn't you ask Amelia to look after him?"

"Yes. I can't find her either." Zelgadis groaned. "And _she_ was the one telling _us_ not to wander off-"

"Was she with us when we found the silk tree?"

"Huh? I thought she was."

"Did you see her?"

"Well, no. I wasn't… paying much attention." Zelgadis groaned and turned around a few times to get a better view of the room they were in. "You don't think she just _left_ us, do you?"

Dr. Wilson put a hand on Zelgadis' shoulder to keep him from spinning so much. "Hard to say. She might've felt like she wasn't needed and gone back to helping at the residence hall. In a situation like this, there's no use being idle."

"But then… where'd Jaime go?"

"Probably looking for Amelia."

Zelgadis groaned again, a little lower this time. He handed his clipboard and bag to Dr. Wilson roughly and took off in the opposite direction. "You go on and take a look at the wisteria. I'll find Jaime and bring him back here."

"Be careful you don't get into trouble, alright?"

"You don't have to tell me that. I just hope that _Jaime_ doesn't get in trouble."

All of that sentimental nonsense that Wilson had said just now about kids learning and growing through curiosity… it seemed a little silly to Zelgadis right about now. Not that he wanted to begrudge Jaime the chance to learn about his surroundings, but doing it in a place dedicated to important research was not the way to go. There could be dangerous plants here, and Jaime could get really hurt, or worse. If anything happened to him, what would Zelgadis say to his friends back at the residence hall? To his parents once they were reuninted? He knew that it was a long shot, considering that Jaime seemed to be an intelligent child, unlikely to recklessly touch things or put things in his mouth. Perhaps the frustration wasn't with Jaime in particular, but with Amelia for disappearing without saying anything. Couldn't she at least have spoken up? Was there a reason she hadn't said anything…?

Zelgadis was pulled away from his thoughts as he passed a door that was slightly ajar. He cringed as he read the AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY sign on the front of it, but pushed it open anyway, moving from the small hallway into the greenhouse, gently calling out into the room. " _Jaime_? Are you in here?"

"Nii-nii! Come look! This plant looks weird!"

Zelgadis rushed toward the boy's voice, desperately hoping that they could get out before anyone knew they were there. "Jaime, you can't be in here. This belongs to other people, and you could mess up their research. What do you think you're doing?"

"But Nii-nii, look." Jaime was standing in front of a large vine that was draped over an enormous trellis that spanned the length of the room. "It looks gross. What's that?"

It didn't take Zelgadis long to realize that Jaime was talking about the tumors that were growing along the base and length of the vines. He frowned, a mix of concern and disgust. "That's crown gall."

"Cown gol?"

"It's a disease. The plant is sick."

Jaime gasped loudly and jumped away from the trellis. "I di'n't know plants coul' get sick! Am I gonna get sick from the plant?"

"No, you won't get sick. _Agrobacterium tumifaciens_ rarely infects humans, and only ones with weakened immune systems." Zelgadis tugged on Jaime's arm, moving back toward the door. "Let's go before we get in trouble. We're not supposed to be here-"

" _Hey!_ What are you doing here? This area belongs to a private company. Only authorized personnel are allowed in this area." Before Zelgadis was even finished speaking, they were interrupted by someone else who was entering. "Who are you?"

"We're leaving," Zelgadis answered. He gestured to Jaime. "I'm so sorry- he wandered in here accidentally and I was just trying to get him out. It won't happen again, I promise."

"I should hope not." The man escorted Zelgadis and Jaime out, making sure that the door was closed behind them. "From now on, keep a better eye on your son, alright?"

Zelgadis opened his mouth to reply, processed what the man had said, and had to pause briefly before speaking again. "R-right. I will. Thank you. Come on, Jaime."

A few minutes afterward, before they made it back to Dr. Wilson, Jaime finally spoke up.

"You're not my papa."

"Hm? No, I'm not. Do I look like your papa?"

"Nuh-uh. My papa has long hair an' a beard, an' he wears glasses."

"I see. Not like me at all, huh?"

"Not like Nii-nii at all!"

The answer didn't quite satisfy Zelgadis, but he wasn't sure why.

* * *

If Adelaide wanted to make it out of the palace complex unseen, she had to do so _discreetly_. It was funny how that word seemed to come back to bite her, wasn't it?

She just couldn't accept the decisions that had been made by the ever-cautious government officials. Wait until AVA made an official announcement? What if they never did? With no pressure, and no reason, AVA could be as silent as they like on the whole deal. And even if they did come out with a public statement, there was no way it would be the truth. They'd just claim the earthquake, as usual. Adelaide was no geologist… but she trusted the people in Taforashia. There hadn't been an earthquake. Someone- or something- was responsible for the explosion that caused the landslide and made AVA close their borders. No matter how much Pokota might've warned her to stay out of it… she just couldn't. Maybe it was because of what her mother had done to Taforashia years ago, but she just couldn't turn a blind eye to an action that caused so much suffering and pain.

There was only one thought that gave her pause. If Pokota found out later that she'd snuck out, he might hate her. …but, then again, the rest of the Taforashians felt that way. Why not him as well?

There was an answer to that question, but she didn't want to have to face it at the moment.

As she made her way down the empty streets, she wasn't interested in much beyond making it out of the city without being spotted. Because of that, she wasn't paying too much attention to her surroundings. When she felt someone grab her arm from behind, she nearly yelped, giving both of them away.

" _Shh! Don_ _'t draw attention to us. It's me_."

Adelaide turned around in surprise. "Mister Belmonte? What do you think you're doing?"

"You're going to the mine, right?" he whispered back. "I'm coming with you."

With a frown on her face, she tugged her arm away from him. "That's nonsense. This isn't a field trip."

"What do you think I am? A child?"

"You're someone who doesn't use magic. If we get attacked, you'll be a liability."

"A lia-" Michael stepped back, looking disgusted. "You talk like I can't defend myself!"

"Can you?"

"I know the locations of sixty-percent of all the pressure points on the human body."

Adelaide stared at him for a moment. "And…?"

"And what?"

"What can you _do_ with that information?"

Michael's wide-eyed look seemed to say that no one had asked him that before. "I…" he began, "…I know it."

"Right, but what can you _do_?"

There was another moment of silence. Adelaide finally sighed and reached to unsheathe her sword. She held it out to Michael, who stared at it blankly.

"What is this?"

"Take this. Even if you don't have a decent technique, it'll at least help to keep some distance between you and any humans who might approach us."

Michael reached out and took the hilt from her, but it was heavier than he expected it to be, and he nearly dropped it. "Th-thanks!" he choked. "But… humans? What else do you think we'd run into?"

"Mazoku."

" _Mazoku?!_ "

Adelaide turned away, motioning for him to follow. "I've been digging around some records about AVA, and something about their activity over the past few years seems fishy. You never know. Mazoku have their hand in everything. If we don't expect to see them, it'll be easier for them to catch us off-guard."

" _Wait!_ "

The two didn't even have to turn around to see who it was.

"Go home, Holly. This expedition has reached maximum capacity for non-sorcerers." Though she didn't have to turn around, Adelaide did so anyway so that she could look the girl in the eye.

Red-faced and out of breath, the little girl wasn't in the mood to be rejected. "That's why you need me! I'm his chaperone!"

Michael cringed. "You're not… you're not my _chaperone_. Your mother was just trying to keep you from getting in trouble at the mine."

"NO! My mom said that I'm your chaperone, so I'm going to be your chaperone. Besides, I _am_ a sorceress! I can use stuff like _Levitation_ and _Lighting_ and even _Fireball_!"

The revelation gave Adelaide pause. Michael, however, was quick to retort.

"Magic doesn't matter! I'm old enough to be your father. I don't need to be baby-sat by-"

"Actually, it might be good to have her around."

" _What_?!" Michael jerked his head around to Adelaide.

Without replying to him, Adelaide grabbed the hilt of the sword from his hands and approached Holly. "Do you know a spell called _Windy Shield?_ "

"I do! Mom taught it to me!"

"Good. I need you to be Michael's guardian for the evening. If we get attacked, your job is to take him and hide somewhere safe until I defeat the enemy. Alright?"

Michael opened his mouth to protest, but he was too late.

"Yes, ma'am! You won't be sorry! I'll be the best-est guardian he's ever had!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for sticking with the story for so long. I'll be back with new chapters sometime in July, so I hope you'll look forward to it. In the meantime, I'm going to be between trips for just long enough to attend Momocon later this month, so if you're there, keep an eye out for me as formal!Colette from Tales of Symphonia. Thanks again, and see you in July!


	8. Rhyme nor Reason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I've returned from some really fantastic travels where I saw and learned a lot, but I'm happy once again to be home. I'm posting this chapter specifically to make an announcement about the story, so please read that at the end. Thanks for sticking with me! As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy.

 

**8- Rhyme Nor Reason**

"You could have at least _said_ something before taking off like that. I sent Jaime off to find you, and we nearly got in big trouble. What were you thinking?"

Zelgadis found Amelia back at the residence hall, where she'd been helping brew some tea and set out cookies for the people who were still around. Some couriers had been going back and forth to Senagra to get more information about how the search and rescue was going, and with the identification of three deaths so far, the atmosphere among the refugees was stifling. Those who were celebrating the confirmation that a loved one was safe did so quietly out of respect for those families who were not so lucky. Zelgadis couldn't rightly scold Amelia out in the open with things the way they were, so he pulled her aside where he could speak with her privately.

"You didn't seem to need me," Amelia defended. "Why stick around when I could go be useful somewhere else? There's a lot to do around here."

"Yeah, but you didn't _say_ anything. If you'd said something, then we'd have known you were gone and I wouldn't have told Jaime to go find you."

Amelia sat down on one of the beds, driving Pickles, who'd been sitting at the foot, to jump off and scurry over to join Tubbs on the windowsill. "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble. It just seemed like I was... in the way."

"In the way?" Zelgadis' voice softened in concern. "What do you mean by that? You've put all your work in Seyruun on hold to come here and help. How could you possibly be in the way?"

"Not in general." Amelia shook her head. "I just meant I was in the way at the greenhouse. I went to accompany you and keep an eye on Jaime, but the two of you seemed so content with one another's company... it was like you didn't need me."

Zelgadis paused.

"Like I didn't need you?"

"W-well..."

"You're not saying that you're jealous of Jaime, are you? I'm not trying to ignore you, if that's what you're thinking." Zelgadis sat down next to her, taking one of her hands in his. "I know we haven't seen each other in a long time, and I really do want to spend as much time as possible with you. But I also want to help-"

"I'm not jealous of Jaime for taking your attention!" Amelia interrupted loudly enough to cut him off. "I'm jealous of _you_ for taking _Jaime's_ attention!"

A moment of silence followed her outburst.

"You...?"

"I'm sorry. It's so petty of me. But I'm so used to working with the kids in Seyruun, who..."

"Who worship the ground you walk on?" Zelgadis frowned. "Just because Jaime is ignoring you doesn't mean he dislikes you."

"I know." Amelia shook her head, pulling away from him. "I know, okay?! I know that I'm wrong for feeling like this! But that doesn't make the feelings go away. It just makes me feel worse on top of them!"

The room went silent again. Both Amelia and Zelgadis looked away from one another, unsure of what to say. Zelgadis took a long, deep breath.

"What am I supposed to do about it?"

"Nothing." Amelia shook her head again. "I don't expect you to do anything. It's not your problem."

"You made it my problem today when you left us without saying anything," Zelgadis spat. "Jaime and I almost got in big trouble. He could've been in danger."

"I'm sorry! Do you really think I meant for that to happen?!"

"It doesn't matter what you meant. What matters is what happened. You of all people should know that-"

"Yes! I do! And I said I'm sorry!" Amelia jumped to her feet. "What more am I supposed to do? I've acknowledged that what I did wasn't smart. I'm genuinely sorry for doing it, and I'll try my best to be more careful in the future. What else is there?!"

Zelgadis was quiet. He turned away with a frustrated sigh. "Nothing."

The room was filled with a tense silence once again. Amelia turned and moved toward the door, waiting for Zelgadis to stop her. But he didn't, and she made it all the way out to the hallway. Disappointed, she closed the door behind her and began to run down the hallway-

-and blundered right into someone else.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-" Her voice cracked as she spoke, betraying that she was on the brink of tears.

"Are you alright, Princess?" It was Dr. Wilson. "What happened?"

"It's nothing. Zelgadis was just... angry about today..."

Wilson's expression softened. "Did you have a fight?"

"N-no," Amelia lied. "We're fine."

"It's perfectly healthy for a couple at any stage to fight. What matters is understanding each other and coming to a compromise." Dr. Wilson placed a hand on Amelia's shoulder. "I was on my way out to the back for a cigarette. Would you like to talk? I've known Zelgadis since he was born. Perhaps I can offer you some insight."

Amelia just nodded.

* * *

"Why exactly are we climbing up here again?"

Gourry struggled somewhat trying to pull himself up onto the next ledge of the mountain face. Lina extended a hand to help him, and he gratefully accepted. "We need a better view of the mine area," she responded. "I need your good eyesight to help us figure out what's going on within the barrier. Climbing up the next mountain over is the only way to do it- unless, of course, you'd like me to fly us up over the mine-"

"Climbing is good, thanks." Gourry took the initiative to move further along in their climb. Lina smiled at him and followed, looking up toward the third member of their group who was waiting for them above.

"If they've put up a ward around the mine, there must be something going on," Carmen explained. "The citizens said that AVA has never constructed a barrier like this before. Climbing up here will give us a better vantage point."

"What exactly are we going to see from so far away, though?" Gourry paused to catch his balance. "Even with your spyglass, that's a _long_ way to see."

"It's not necessarily so much that we need to see what they're doing," Carmen responded, sitting down on a nearby ledge to rest. She'd insisted that the climb would be no trouble for her despite her earlier injuries, but even so, Lina and Gourry had asked that she take regular breaks. "We just need to see whether or not they're doing _something_. AVA has been awfully… _inactive_ for a while. The last few months or so, there's been little to no activity around. No blasting, no carts hauling out debris… Michael even said that he didn't see the regular workers like he was used to. We thought at first that AVA might be preparing to shut down the mining operation, but no announcement about it was made. It's possible that they weren't downgrading intentionally, but struggling."

Lina and Gourry glanced at one another uneasily. "Struggling?" Lina murmured. "If that's the case, then the earthquake would have…"

"Well, the thing is, I've felt earthquakes before. I've been all around the world, and I've experienced my share of them in my youth as well as a few tremors in Senagra. But before the landslide, I didn't hear one."

"Didn't… hear one?" Gourry sat down beside Carmen, moving a little closer. "What do you mean? How do you _hear_ an earthquake?"

Carmen closed her eyes. "It's an odd thing to say, but earthquakes do have a sound. Not the earthquakes themselves, I mean, but the effects that they have on buildings… when you're in a wooden building, it makes a creaking, moaning sound, almost like the house itself is expanding and contracting. The sound I heard before the landslide was nothing like that."

"Wait, so you _did_ hear something just before the landslide?"

"Yes, but it rattled the windows like mine explosions do."

"Don't earthquakes rattle the windows too?"

"Not in the same way."

Lina crossed her arms and made a " _hmph_ _"_ noise. "I get what you're saying. If there was no earthquake, something _else_ had to cause the landslide. What if AVA was the one who caused it?"

" _Intentionally?!_ " Gourry gasped.

"No, not intentionally, but perhaps as an unwanted effect of their mine work." Lina took a step toward the other two, and Gourry thought that she was going to sit beside them, but instead she began pacing back and forth as best she could do on the ledge. "If they're the ones who caused the landslide, it makes sense that they'd want to hide what happened. They wouldn't want to take responsibility for that- especially if, as Carmen says, they're struggling."

"Would they have to?" Gourry ventured. "If it was an accident, I mean."

"Even if they didn't mean to, they hurt a _lot_ of people."

Carmen glanced down at her knees, a look of pain in her eyes. "Mrs. Harnett… and Jack Gales… and the old woman who lived in the attic of the Hammakers' house… three people have died because of this. Not only that, but so many people have been injured, and all our homes and belongings are gone…"

There was a brief period of silence. Lina didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet, but Gourry leaned closer to Carmen and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Lina sent a letter by pigeon to Taforashia this afternoon. She wrote to tell Michael and Jaime that you're safe. Even if people can't get through the mountain pass, I'm sure the bird and the letter will get to them by tomorrow."

Carmen didn't say anything in reply, but a slight smile spread across her face. She rested her head against Gourry's chest, and he pulled her closer. Lina watched, not sure what to make of it. That's right- Gourry had said that he'd lost his mother when he was very young, right? That she died when Kent was born? And here was a mother who had, at some time in the past, lost a child. There must have been some camaraderie there that Lina couldn't quite grasp. She wanted to join them, to be part of lifting their spirits, but something in her mind told her that it was something she couldn't do. There was something that they needed, something that she just couldn't offer them yet.

But, damn, she hated feeling helpless.

"Hey, uh, you guys hang out here for a while, okay? I'm gonna levitate up to the next ledge to get a better view of the mine. I'll come right back and tell you what I see, alright?"

"That's fine. Thank you, Lina," Carmen responded. "I really wasn't quite as up to this climb as I thought I was."

"Not a problem! I'll be back before you know it!"

* * *

"That's a really cool sword, Lady Adelaide! Where'd you get it?"

Holly had insisted on holding Michael's hand the whole time they were walking, and he had reluctantly agreed after suffering a scathing glare from Adelaide. He wasn't going to argue with the girl who had the sword. Nevertheless, Holly was two things that Michael had difficulty keeping up with: fast and talkative. He couldn't keep up with her pace or her conversation, and since she found herself practically dragging him and talking to herself, she let go of his hand and ran forward to grab Adelaide's hand and talk to her instead. Michael could hear their conversation, but he stayed behind and simply listened. He had a great respect and admiration for swordsmanship, but… no interest in it himself.

"This was my father's sword. It was his most prized possession. He was a nobleman and a top-ranked swordsman; best in all of his kingdom, even!"

"Wow! Your dad sounds cool!"

"Oh, he _was_. His name was Johnathan deFleurieu, second son of the duke of Middleton, in Ralteague." Adelaide pronounced his name with a flourish. "He taught me everything I know about swordsmanship… or, I _wish_ he had. Actually, I learned a lot when I was studying at Saint Cecelia's. But it was Dad who got me interested in swordsmanship in the first place. It was the one thing we loved almost as much as we loved each other."

Michael could hear the melancholy in her voice. The past tense she was using as she talked about her father… he had a feeling he knew where this was going. Holly, however, was clueless.

"He sounds a-maaaaazing! I wanna meet him someday!"

"Well…" Adelaide glanced away, looking at the rocks they were passing along the side of the trail. "He, uh… he's not alive anymore. He died when I was eight."

"…oh…" Holly replied, though it was choked.

"Don't worry. It's been years since then. And, besides, he died in a swordfight, so… I guess you could say that he died doing what he loved."

Holly looked up at Adelaide with a serious expression. "Did someone kill him?"

"Yes." Adelaide forced herself to smile. "But that person got punished for it."

"Somebody killed my daddy too."

Adelaide stopped.

"What?"

"Well, Mommy won't say so. She just says that somebody _took_ him away. But I know. She won't say where they took him, and when I ask when he'll be back, she says it's never, and she looks really sad. So I know."

There was silence. Adelaide's grip on Holly's hand tightened.

"Did you know your dad?"

"No. I was too little, so I don't remember him." Holly shook her head. "But that's why Mommy works so hard all the time- so that we can stay together. She works all the time, so I have to go to school far away, but I know she does it for me. That's why I wanted to spend time with her now. I wanted to thank her."

"I'm sure she knows how grateful you are," Adelaide assured her. "But as for your dad, I… I'm sorry. No one should have to go through that."

"The people at school tell me that everything happens for a reason," Holly responded. "They say I can't see the bigger picture yet, but someday I will. So I just gotta be brave for now-"

"My wife says stuff like that too."

Adelaide hadn't realized that Michael had been listening to their conversation, or even that he'd caught up with them, so she was surprised to hear him jump in. "Oh?"

"Yes." He stepped in front of them and put one hand on Adelaide's shoulder and the other on Holly's. "Let me offer you girls some advice. My wife alway says that there's more to life than just what we can see, and we have to trust that everything happens as it's supposed to. She says that we have to remember that bad things help us grow, and every challenge that we encounter in life is set there with the intention of making us into the people we're meant to become. When I was young like you are, I wasn't sure about all that. I didn't know if it was true or not. But I've seen a lot in fourty years, and you know what I've found?"

"What?"

"All of that stuff about _everything-happens-for-a-reason_ and all that… it's a load of garbage."

There was a pause.

"Funny," Adelaide murmured, "I thought you were going in a whole different direction with that."

Michael moved his hands away and took a few steps back. "Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to, well, mediocre people. Telling people they shouldn't be sad- for whatever reason, be it searching for a silver lining or character development- I find to be disrespectful. It's disrespectful to the person suffering, and if that suffering is grief, it's disrespectful to the person who died." He hung his head as he spoke. "It's been almost ten years since my wife and I lost our first son, and every day- _every day_ \- since then I've been searching for some sort of reason or purpose. But even if I found it, _which I haven_ _'t,_ how could I face my son with that? How could I tell him that there was a legitimate reason that he never got to grow up? Is there any reason at all that could justify a teenager… no, a _child_ _…_ dying?"

Adelaide couldn't speak. The emotion she could hear in Michael's voice was the same as the desperation that she heard from him when he was begging to go to Senagra. Suddenly his paranoia about his family's safety seemed justified, if only in part. This man had a reason to hang on tightly to what he had, to keep from losing anything more. She felt Holly's grip on her hand tighten, and she responded with the same.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea." Adelaide stepped into line with Michael, hoping that her closeness could alleviate some of his stress. It was odd- the two of them were about the same height, yet he suddenly felt so small next to her. Somehow the moonlight seemed to accentuate features on his face that she hadn't seen during the day, outlining the wrinkles and creases around his mouth and eyes. The few strands of white amongst his lavender hair stood out as if illuminated, making Adelaide realize just how old he really was.

"It's alright. I don't talk about it a lot." Michael's response was almost a whisper. "My son, he… he died following his dream. He wanted to be a hero, someone who traveled around helping people in need. From the time he was ten, when he could swing a sword with enough accuracy to fight, he started traveling with my father-in-law on humanitarian missions. They did a lot of dangerous things, but they accomplished a lot too. Every time he visited with stories of close calls and near-death experiences, I wanted to tell him to stop and come home… but I thought it would be too selfish of me to keep him from doing what made him truly happy. Now I look back and wonder what would have happened if I'd acted differently. If I'd been selfish, would he still be here right now? I wouldn't care if he was angry with me or resented me, if I could just bring him back-"

"Worrying about what might've happened won't change what _did_ ," Adelaide interrupted. "And besides, selflessness is nothing to regret. I've found that it takes bravery to be selfless like that."

Michael looked over at her in surprise. "…bravery, huh?"

"Yes. The most selfish people I've ever met have also been the most cowardly," she answered. "And the kindest people have also been the bravest."

"You remind me so much of him."

Adelaide stopped. "Your son?"

"Y-yeah. He… he wasn't quite as outspoken as you are. He was a bookish kid, but he had a strong sense of morality. He was determined too- if he wanted something, he'd work for it as hard as he could. I know that, if he was in your situation, he'd be doing the same thing you are now."

The group was quiet for a moment. Adelaide could feel Holly tugging on her arm as they walked, as if she was nervous about what was behind them. That's right, she was afraid of the dark, wasn't she? Besides that, the topic of conversation wasn't doing much to lighten the mood.

"Thank you, Mister Belmonte," Adelaide finally spoke up. "You're such a gentle, quiet, humble person…" She paused. " _Not at all_ like my father."

Michael frowned at her. "I see."

"I'm just being honest. Would you rather I lie to you?"

"N-no…"

"C'mon. We still have a lot of ground to cover."

"Yes. Of course-"

Michael moved to follow Adelaide, but she suddenly reached out a hand to stop him. Holly, too, was frozen in place.

"Whats going on-?"

"Stay still," Adelaide whispered. "we're being watched."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Thanks so much for reading this far! I'm excited that people are enjoying the story, however I do have an announcement regarding future updates. If you're also reading my other fic, Perigee, I have a bonus Dwarven Vow for you- #51: Chan urrainn do dhuine 'sambith seirbhis a dhéanamh do dhà mhaighstir. It means "no one can serve two masters." For those who've followed me for a while, you know that I generally have a policy of only working on one story at a time. While I'm dedicated to finishing both Perigee AND Stare Decisis, after working on them simultaneously for a while, I have to acknowledge that my one story rule is important to both my well-being and the quality of my writing. Because of this, I'm putting Stare Decisis on hold to focus on finishing Perigee, and will return to it once that is finished. I can't say for sure how long it will be [my estimate is two to three months depending on my work situation], but I want to assure you that I do not and will not leave stories unfinished. I just have to take the time to prioritize my work properly. Thank you for your patience, and I appreciate all the support. I look forward to returning with the rest of the story sometime soon.)


	9. Worried Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much, everyone, for your patience with me and my writing! I'm back with this story and intend to finish it out with weekly updates on Fridays from now on. I hope you'll look forward to it. As usual, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**9- Worried Sick**

"What's going on-?"

"Stay still," Adelaide whispered. "we're being watched."

Adelaide and Holly took a place on each side of Michael, Adelaide watching intently for any activity around them while Holly trembled at the sight of the darkness.

"Watched by what?" Michael whispered. "Is it some sort of monster? Are we going to be attacked? Do you think that you could-"

"Shh!" Adelaide jerked on his arm. "I need to hear."

They all were quiet, listening intently, but no sound came from anywhere around them. Adelaide could feel the presence of something watching them, but whatever it was, it wasn't physical.

"Dammit… I wish Pokota were here. I'm not used to dealing with this stuff on my own." she murmured under her breath.

"Pokota?" Holly whispered. "You mean the stuffed animal prince?"

"Come to think of it," Michael added, "this _is_ the first time I've seen you without him. You're always together."

Always together? That was an interesting observation. But coming from someone they'd only known for two days, it made sense-

"Hey!" Holly interrupted, whispering and tugging on Adelaide's dress. "That means… are you the new princess? The girl who's gonna marry the prince?"

" _What_?" Adelaide stiffened. "Where'd you hear that?"

"It's a rumor around town. They said that the prince is going to marry some foreign noble. I heard some ladies in the grand hall talking about it."

Adelaide frowned. "I… don't know what exactly you heard, but… I'm not marrying anybody."

Michael stepped closer to her and spoke in concern. "Adelaide-"

"Shh! We have to be quiet!"

There was another moment of quiet, and finally, after nothing happened, Adelaide raised her voice toward the darkness.

"Hey, is someone there? Can we help you?"

" _Are you aware you_ _'re trespassing?_ "

A voice answered from the shadows, causing Michael to jump and squeal. "Wh-who was that?!"

Adelaide ignored him and focused on the one who'd spoken to them. "Trespassing, you say? What exactly do you mean by that? We're just following the mountain path that everyone takes between Taforashia and Senagra. This isn't private land."

" _Just because a path is well-traveled doesn_ _'t mean that it's owned by the public. The mountain path is maintained by the Vaccaro Mine. AVA, who owns the mine, has the right to keep people from trespassing on our property. Besides, I can't believe that someone traveling so late at night could just be a simple passerby."_

Holly pressed closer. "Miss Adelaide, is that true? Are we on mine property?"

"It is," Michael answered. "The pass is owned by the mine. Adelaide, we _are_ technically tres-"

"I knew that." Adelaide cut him off. "I wanted to make sure the one who was accusing us knew it too."

" _I_ _'m sorry, but whatever you came to the mine to do, you can't do it now. Next time, ask permission."_

"We just want to get through to Senagra," Adelaide responded. "Couldn't you escort us there? We mean no harm-"

" _You_ _'ll have to find another way around. This way is off-limits. Leave immediately."_

Michael took a step back as though he were going to do as the creature said, but Adelaide smiled in the creature's direction.

"Make us."

* * *

"I never actually met Rezo outside of his revival in Taforashia. I've only heard stories about him- both good ones from people in Seyruun, and not-so-good ones from my friends. In either case, it's hard to imagine him as... well..." Amelia struggled to find the right words. "...a father or grandfather."

"Rezo wasn't a family man by any stretch of the imagination." Dr. Wilson spoke with the cigarette, unlit, in his teeth as he conjured a simple spell to light it. "He never intended to get married and start a family."

"Did he fall in love?" Amelia ventured.

"No. He made a promise he didn't think he'd have to keep."

"Huh?"

Wilson laughed. "There was this hospital that we used to visit when we were young and traveling together. Rezo was already well-known for his healing powers, and I was following him around the continent as his assistant so that I could study how he worked. This was a hospital for patients who couldn't be cured using magic, however. Because of that, Rezo visited often with gifts and stories. I think he felt deeply connected with everyone there, since he too had a condition that couldn't be cured with magic."

Amelia shifted to a more comfortable position as she realized that the old man was gearing up for a long story. "Is that where he met Zelgadis' grandmother?"

"Yes. Her name was Elena, and she was chronically ill- some sort of respiratory problem, I think. She was a weak girl and had been almost bedridden her whole life, and because of that, had spent most of her life reading every book she could get her hands on. She and Rezo became particularly good friends, and he confided in me that she was the most intelligent person he had ever encountered. And Elena... well, I never really knew her closely, but anyone could tell that she had fallen in love with Rezo."

"But he didn't love her back?"

"He loved her in his own way, as a dear companion, friend, and confidant, but he didn't feel for her the way she did, and he actively avoided talking about romance to keep from hurting her feelings. But, her condition later worsened, and when Rezo visited one time, she was practically on her deathbed. None of the doctors had much hope she'd survive, and even she was losing the strength to go on. Rezo was heartbroken and spent the whole visit by her side, knowing it would probably be the last time he saw her. But we eventually had to leave. When we did, she asked him... to marry her if she survived. I was surprised how little hesitation he had before saying yes."

Amelia looked down at her feet awkwardly. "Who wouldn't say yes to that? You'd have to be heartless to deny the pure wishes of someone on their deathbed. And, despite how Zelgadis feels about him, I know Rezo wasn't."

"This was before Rezo truly began losing himself to the Demon King," Wilson replied. "I hate to say it, but I think his marriage to Elena was the beginning of that."

"The beginning...?"

Dr. Wilson was quiet for a moment, exhaling a cloud of smoke into the chilly evening air. "Miraculously, Elena recovered, and she married Rezo within that year. Another year passed and they had a daughter. That girl was Rezo's pride and joy. Once she could walk, she never strayed too far from him. I was a bit distant from the family during this time, but I definitely remember the few times I did visit. In my whole life, I never saw Rezo as happy as when he was with Carmen. Her laughter brought a smile to his face like I've never seen before."

Amelia closed her eyes and thought about it. "He could hear her laugh, but he couldn't see her smile. The thought alone hurts me."

"Yes. And after Elena died, it only got worse. She passed away from medical complications about a week after their second child was born. Rezo realized that his wife, his beloved friend, was gone forever and he'd never seen her face. He wouldn't let the same thing happen to his precious daughter."

There was a moment of quiet, filled only by the din of insects that had started up now that evening had fallen. Amelia sat up a little straighter, hugging her knees close to her chest.

"The soul of the Demon King preys on the darkness in the human heart," she murmured. "Darkness like despair and desperation... even if it's driven by love, it's still darkness. It can consume a person."

"Rezo descended so slowly into madness, I didn't realize until years had passed just how far gone he was. He played a sane facade so easily." Wilson pressed the smoldering end of his cigarette into a small porcelain ashtray. "I didn't realize something was wrong until Carmen was eighteen and Rezo was excited to marry her off."

"He what?"

"Carmen was an experienced healer, having traveled and learned from Rezo her whole life, and had taken a job working in a small village on the coast. It wasn't long after she'd started living there that she became pregnant and sought her father's blessing on her marriage to her lover. I thought Rezo would be furious- I mean, _I_ was furious! Carmen was like a niece to me, and I was frustrated and worried for her sake. But Rezo was... practically giddy. He was overjoyed at the prospect of being a grandfather and eagerly welcomed his new son in law into the family. In the end, I didn't have anything to worry about. Michael was young, but he was a good boy, and absolutely devoted to Carmen and their future together. Despite their ages, they were great parents."

Amelia leaned over toward him. "And their son was...?"

"Yes."

The answer was obvious, but Amelia couldn't help a smile.

"Funny, I never imagined the circumstances of Zelgadis' birth being anything like that."

Wilson laughed. "You mean being conceived out of wedlock to teenage parents who didn't have a clue what they were doing?"

"He has always been the _responsible_ one of our group..."

"I think he got that from what Rezo did to him. The harsh reality was too much for a boy his age." A frown fell over Wilson's features. "To tell you the truth, I feel responsible for what happened. I knew something was off, and yet I cut ties with Rezo, assuming that he'd never hurt Zelgadis..."

"Well, of course you assumed that! Zelgadis assumed that!" Amelia quickly came to his defense.

"Yes, but I knew something he didn't." Wilson shook his head sadly. "I knew that Rezo was responsible for the death of Zelgadis' parents."

"...oh. Yes, Zelgadis told me that you told him that..." Amelia looked down at her feet.

"It wasn't just Zelgadis' parents either- so many people in Gardenos lost their lives in that fire. Whole families, just gone. The official ruling was that an accident on one of the ships in port caused the fire, but that's because Rezo's followers were so good at covering their tracks. I was already grief-stricken for Carmen and her husband, but when I found out that the fire was Rezo's doing... all because they had spoken out against Zelgadis continuing to travel with Rezo..."

Amelia watched as Wilson hunched over, one hand placed over his forehead.

"I knew that the real Rezo would never had hurt his precious daughter. And yet I left Zelgadis with that... that monster..."

It took him a moment to regain his composure, so Amelia sat with him quietly the whole time, keeping one hand on his back. Finally, he spoke up, raising his head again.

"I was going somewhere with this story, believe it or not. Zelgadis and his father were very close, and Jaime reminds me a lot of Zelgadis when he was young. The chance for him to step in and be somewhat of a surrogate for Jaime when the boy is separated from his family is something that Zelgadis isn't going to pass up. If you could perhaps let him take the lead with this one, he'd appreciate it. He's a proud man and won't admit it, but..." Dr. Wilson smiled. "...he's a real softie when it comes to little kids."

Amelia giggled. "Don't worry- I'm well aware of that."

"Of course. You know him better than anyone, don't you?"

The question was rhetorical, so it went unanswered.

Amelia finally stood up, shaking out her cape and giving Dr. Wilson a friendly wave. "I'm going back in. Now that we've both had some time to cool down, I need to apologize."

Wilson nodded. "He probably has an apology for you as well."

"Oh! And, before I leave, I wanted to tell you- there's some sort of respiratory infection that's going around the group. It's pretty common when you get a lot of people together like this, and it doesn't seem to be severe, but I wanted to give you a heads up, since..."

"Since those most affected by infectious diseases are children and the elderly, correct?" Wilson finished the sentence for her. "You can call me elderly. It's the truth."

"Well, and you smoke, so your lungs..." Amelia blushed and let her voice trail off. "A-anyway, I'm going to go find Zelgadis! Thank you for everything!"

Dr Wilson smiled as he watched her leave. "Anytime you need advice, you can always come to me."

"I'll remember that!"

* * *

"Gourry, have you ever heard of post-traumatic stress disorder?"

"Hmm?" Gourry had been absentmindedly drawing patterns in the dirt with a stick while Carmen paced the ledge, keeping an eye out for any activity. "Yeah, I've heard of it- or, uh, something like it. My friend Amelia talked to me about it."

"What did she say?"

"Er, I said something to her about Lina having nightmares one time, and she said that might be why. Lina's been through a lot. See, she discovered this spell that almost destroyed the world, and she's been upset about it ever since. There was this vision about the world- all her friends- being consumed by darkness. Sometimes she sees it in her dreams and it's really scary. It's scary for me just hearing her describe it." Gourry shook his head. "She doesn't like to talk about it very much, so don't tell her I told you, okay?"

Carmen nodded and sat down beside him again. "I won't say anything. But I'm surprised. How long has Lina dealt with this? Perhaps I can help-"

"She's not much for asking for help. Lina likes to take care of things on her own," Gourry responded. "She says she's not sick, so I don't push it. I'm just there for her when she needs me. It's gotten a lot better. She hasn't had any nightmares in months."

"I see." Carmen looked down at her hands. "And what about you?

"Me?"

"Originally I was asking for your sake. You've told me about the situation with you and your brother. It sounds like it's brought back a lot of memories from the past that are affecting you. Besides that, injuries like the one you sustained on your arm are extremely traumatic. Your description of strange pains in your arm are not uncommon."

Gourry paused and then scooted away from her a short distance. "I-I'm not sick, though."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, Amelia's a healer, and she said that there's nothing physically wrong with me as far as she can tell. And I haven't had anything near as scary as Lina's experience happen to me."

Carmen watched him, but she didn't move to close the gap between them just yet. "Physical illness isn't the only way to be sick, you know." She closed her eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "And, as a healer, I know that the most dangerous words you can ever say are 'it couldn't happen to me."

"Okay, maybe so, but... what am I supposed to tell Lina? That a mazoku cut my arm off, so now I'm sick in the head? That doesn't make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense. If Lina is struggling with the same thing you are, she'll understand-"

"But I don't _want_ her to understand!" Gourry shot back before he realized what he was saying. He stopped and looked down at his feet. "I mean... I don't want her to think there's anything seriously wrong with me. She's already treating me differently because she thinks that I'm sick. I'm trying to show her I'm not. What's she gonna think if I tell her I have some weird mind disease?"

"You think she'll treat you differently? After all the time you've spent together?"

Gourry hung his head and sighed. "Before I met Lina, I was so used to being either looked down upon because of my stupidity or being put on a pedestal because of my brute strength. When we first started traveling together, I did the same thing to her- I treated her like a child because she was so young. But as much as she berated me for my lack of mental prowess, she never looked down on me like I was lesser. She was strong enough that she didn't really look up to me either- she treated me like an equal. We're partners. I don't want that to change."

Carmen considered his statement for a moment. "I'm a healer, not a marriage counselor, so perhaps you should talk to someone more specialized, but-"

"You're being a lot more helpful than the marriage counselor we saw a year or two ago."

She paused. "I thought you've only been married for several months."

Gourry shrugged in response. "Oh, yeah- we weren't married at the time. We just went to the session for the free food."

Carmen stared.

"Lina and I like free food."

"..."

"I mean, we like food in general, but it's extra nice when it's free."

"..."

"Is there something wrong?"

With a soft laugh, Carmen shook her head. "No, no. You're just an interesting pair. I want to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"You told me that you sometimes help Lina deal with her own troubles. When that happens, do you look down on her?"

Gourry sat up straighter, his eyes widening in surprise. "Of course not! I would never!"

"Then what makes you think she'd look down on you for the same thing?"

"I-it's not quite the same."

"How so?"

"Well, what Lina went through was so much worse than anything that I've ever-"

He was interrupted when Carmen tugged sharply on his hair. Gourry let out a little yelp in surprise, and she let go. "Oops! I'm so used to doing that to Michael."

Gourry rubbed the back of his head, waving his other hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Seems to be a popular way to get a guy's attention."

"What I was going to say was- suffering is not a contest. Just because you and Lina went through different things doesn't mean that either of your pain is more justified than another's." Carmen crossed her arms. "This isn't like a virus. You can't just leave it alone and let it run its course. It takes awareness and cooperation to heal something like this."

Gourry sighed and lay back, letting his hair pool under his head as he looked up at the stars. It was such a nice, clear night, it would be perfect for stargazing if the situation were different. The chirping and buzzing of insects provided the perfect choral backdrop for a relaxing night worrying about nothing but the sparkling patterns in the sky overhead. Unfortunately, they didn't have that luxury, and neither did the people of Senagra.

"I wonder if Lina's found anything yet..." Gourry murmured. "This is all so confusing. I mean, an earthquake that might not have been an earthquake, a struggling business that's tried to keep its activities secret..."

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Carmen leaned over to make sure that he could hear her. "Michael also told me that he met some businesspeople one day on a walk up the mountain. Apparently they'd been hounding AVA to sell the mine, along with some sort of pharmaceutical endeavor that AVA was reluctant to give up."

Gourry sat up a little. "Farm-a-what?"

"Pharmaceutical. As in, making medicine."

He frowned as he thought it over. "Mining copper and making medicine? Those are kinda broad interests for a single company as small as AVA."

"Not necessarily," Carmen replied. "Copper has antibacterial properties and is an important part of the human immune response. Still, it's not like people take copper supplements. Maybe to use in their gardens, but..."

"Gardens?"

"Oh yes. A copper barrier will keep slugs out of a garden."

Gourry's eyes lit up. "Ooh. Lina would like that."

"Does she like gardening?"

"No, but she hates slugs."

Carmen closed her eyes and laughed. "Slugs, hm? That's an interesting fear for such a hardened warrior-"

"HEY, YOU GUYS. GET OVER HERE!"

It was Lina's voice that drowned out their conversation. She jumped down from the ledge above and grabbed hold of Gourry's arm.

"If you need help getting up there, I can carry you. But you've got to see what's going on."

Carmen stood up alongside Gourry as Lina pulled him to his feet. "What's going on? You can see activity at the mine?"

" _Activity_ … yeah, that's one way to put it."


	10. Heavy-Handed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still Friday somewhere, right? (I'm sorry for the error in the previous announcement- these chapters will be every other week rather than every week due to various life factors going on. Thank you again for your patience!) As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**10- Heavy-Handed**

Gourry helped Carmen up the last large step to the ledge where Lina was waiting for them. From that point they could see over the next ridge into the mine pit. Carmen's first glance into it was met with a gasp.

"What are all those lights?"

"Huh." Gourry squinted, leaning closer as if that would make any difference over the long distance. "It looks like there are… people. Or at least things that look like people."

"Doing what?"

"Excavating," Lina answered, offering Carmen her spyglass. "That's why you haven't seen people working the mine lately. They've been doing it by night."

Carmen took a few minutes with the spyglass to examine the scene, and she then handed it to Gourry. He didn't know much about mines, so he didn't know what he was looking for, and quickly passed the spyglass back to Lina. "So what does this mean?"

"I have a thought," Lina began, "but I can't be sure until I confirm something. Carmen- this place is a porphyry copper deposit, isn't it?"

"Pardon?"

"Porphyry copper deposit. It means that the ore was deposited by copper-rich geothermal fluids. Open pit mining is usually used for that kind of deposit, but I have to be sure."

Gourry's face was blank with incomprehension. "How do you know so much about mines, Lina?"

"Are you kidding?" Lina laughed. "Mines are the source for all our precious metals and gemstones. Why wouldn't I know about such lucrative ventures?"

He paused. " _Lucrative_ … I remember you taught me that word… it means… _ah!_ Something that makes a lot of money!"

"Bingo! I'm so proud of you!"

Gourry took a moment to bask in her praise before turning his attention back to the mine. "But Carmen said they were struggling. So the landslide couldn't be their fault- why would they destroy part of what is making them money?"

Lina shook her head. "That's the thing-" she began, "if the copper veins they're mining aren't enough, they'll have to either stop the project or find more copper. If they dig down enough to find the location of an ancient water table, they'll hit the jackpot: a copper-rich metal called _chalcocite_."

Gourry was a little lost, caught up in how you could make a table out of water, but Carmen had caught on. "And refining copper from this mineral would make them more money than the pure copper ore they've been mining?"

"Yes," Lina nodded, "because there's way more of it. Remember, for every tonne of rock they clear out around those veins, they only get a few grams of copper. Now imagine an entire layer of a mineral that's one part sulfur, two parts copper."

"One part, two parts…" Gourry paused to count on his fingers and gasp. "That's more than half copper. That's a lot!"

Lina giggled. "Gourry, you're on a roll tonight! What's with you? Did the cool mountain air wake you up or something?"

"Ah, I don't know." His face took on a look of pride and he stretched his arms, jumping down onto a lower ledge and offering a hand to help Lina down. "I'm just feeling really, uh… _healthy_ , all of a sudden, that's all. Come on, let's get back down to the village. We need to talk to people about this information- _and_ take Lucan off Shay's hands. I can hear him barking from here, the poor thing."

"Oh, okay!" Lina accepted his help down and watched as he escorted Carmen safely down the slope as well.

The trip back to Senagra was much livelier than the trip up the mountain. Gourry talked eagerly, and Lina was so relieved to hear him excited about something, she found herself strangely excited. Carmen lagged behind them as they continued down the path, but Lina chalked that up to her earlier injuries and simply tried not to lose her. It wasn't until they reached the outskirts of the village that Gourry offered to run ahead and find Lucan to give the village some peace and quiet. Lina promised to escort Carmen back to the hospital tent and would join him later.

"I'm amazed," Lina spoke up as they broke off on their own. "What'd you say to him? He was all mopey before, and now he's… not."

Carmen was quiet at first. " _Mopey_. That's an interesting way to put it."

"Well, how would you put it?"

"…"

There was silence between them, filled in only by the drone of insects carried by the wind. Carmen sighed and shook her head, finally managing to speak again.

"Never mind. It's not my place to get involved in your business. I was a little pushy with Gourry today, and I'm sorry for that. Don't give him a hard time, okay?"

Lina stopped walking, placing her hands on her hips and leaning closer. "If this is about him being sick, I _know_ , alright? I get it. A lot of stuff happened all at once for him with his brother and his arm and a bunch of weird magic, and it was difficult to handle. He's not okay. But if he wants to act okay, then that's his prerogative."

Carmen frowned. "Acting okay when you're not is tiring. It eventually wears you down, and-"

"And what? I'm not a therapist! I can't fix him-" Lina cut herself off mid-sentence as she caught the look on Carmen's face. " _Oh._ You… weren't talking about him. I-I'm sorry. I forgot, you have it worse off than any of us right now. Your house, your village… it's all gone, and here I am yelling at you."

"That's not necessarily true." As Carmen spoke, she reached out and took Lina's hand. "Material things are replaceable. It's the people in your life that aren't. Remember that, okay?"

Lina felt a little awkward. Sure, material things were replaceable, but losing your _whole house_ wasn't something that could easily be glossed over like that. She didn't like forcing Carmen to be the one comforting and supporting her and Gourry. It should be the other way around, shouldn't it? They came to Senagra to _help_ people, after all!

"I'll remember that." Lina nodded. "In the meantime, uh, we received a courier dove from Taforashia this afternoon with some news. We sent it back with the mail from everyone in the village, so Michael and Jaime should get your letter by tomorrow. They'll know you're alright, and I'm sure that'll take a huge weight off their shoulders. Okay?"

"Thank you, Lina. I'm sure it will too."

By this point, they'd reached the hospital tent where some soldiers from Seyruun were still milling about, making sure that everyone was accounted for. Carmen started to wave at Lina, but Lina stopped her before she could go much further.

"Hey, uh, I know you're pretty good with white magic and all- do you know anything about breaking into protective barriers?"

The question took Carmen off-guard. "What? No, I can't say I do. What are you thinking? You're not going to break into the-"

"Tomorrow night once the recovery efforts have wrapped up for the evening, I'm going to see what kind of scouting I can do on the mine property. If AVA won't talk to us about what's going on, we'll have to go to them. I know it may not be the _right_ thing to do, but… it's the right thing to do."

Lina waited for Carmen to reprimand her for using underhanded methods, but the scolding she was looking for never came. Instead, she laughed.

"Well, Michael always said that sometimes small evils are necessary for the greater good." She paused and offered Lina a smile. "I can't help with breaking that barrier or anything, but if you need any other help, you know who to call."

"Thanks."

* * *

By the time Amelia went looking for Zelgadis, he was already looking for her, and they both had an apology to offer.

Amelia was honest and opened up about all that Wilson had told her. Zelgadis had a laugh at her scandalized reaction to his parents' story, stating that teenage parents were more common than she'd imagine- after all, not everyone was a noble with status and a reputation to worry about.

Since Jaime had taken the cats to the lobby to play with some of the other refugee children, Amelia and Zelgadis were able to share some much-needed time alone before they went to help with dinner. It wasn't exactly romantic, with discussion topics ranging from the greenhouse specimens that Zelgadis and Wilson had picked out to the respiratory infection that was spreading among the refugees, but that was how it should have been. Neither were the type to get caught up in sweet nothings when there were more important matters that needed their attention.

The evening was uneventful up until everyone had retired for the night. But at some point a little after midnight, Amelia woke up to the sound of the room door opening and closing. She sat up, looking to the other bed.

"Zelgadis? Jaime?"

Jaime was the only one there, and he pointed to the door. "Nii-nii went to get me some water. My throat hurts."

Amelia noted the hoarseness in his voice with some dread. She pulled herself to her feet so that she could approach the other bed and sit down beside him. "Does anything else hurt? Are you hot? Cold?" she asked, placing a hand over his forehead.

"Just my throat," Jaime answered, burrowing down further into the blankets. "An' I'm cold… 'Cept for my face. My cheeks feel hot."

"You have a low fever. Once Zelgadis gets back, I'll go get you some ice to put on your face. For now, stay in bed and rest, okay?"

Jaime was dissatisfied with the answer, but Amelia didn't notice until she moved to stand up and he grabbed her hand to stop her. "A-nee?" he began, the look in his blue eyes suddenly so reminiscent of the way Zelgadis' looked when he was worried. "Did I get sick from the plant?"

The question took Amelia by surprise. "The… plant? Oh, you mean the greenhouse? Don't worry. That's a controlled environment to grow plants free of pests and disease. You won't get sick visiting a place like that. This is probably something you picked up playing with your friends today-"

Jaime interrupted her, sitting up with a start.

"No, we saw it! There was'a sick plant! It was the cow gull!"

"The, uh…" Amelia fell silent. She'd heard of a herring gull and a kelp gull, but a _cow gull_ was beyond her knowledge, especially in a place like this. "…cow gull, you said?"

"Yeah. That's what Nii-nii said."

"I know he has an affinity for seabirds, but you normally don't find gulls living so far inland-"

As she spoke, the door to the room opened, letting in light from the hallway. Jamie placed his hands over his eyes and let out a little whine before Zelgadis closed the door again. "It's okay, it's only me," he spoke up. "I have water for you. Sit up and drink it slowly, okay?" He sat down, offering Jaime the glass and glancing over to Amelia. "I'm sorry- did he wake you?"

"It's fine." She shook her head. "He has a fever, and I think he's a little delirious. He was going on just now about some kind of seagull."

" _Cow gull!_ " Jamie finished the sip of water that he was drinking. "Nii-nii, you 'member it? In the big plant house. Did I get sick from the plant? I don't wanna get a plant sickness!"

It took Zelgadis a moment. "Oh. _Crown gall._ That's what you're thinking of. And _no,_ Jaime, you're a human. You can't get sick from a diseased plant."

"But the sick plant… and the guy who yelled at us…"

"He yelled at us because that room was private and we weren't supposed to be in there." Zelgadis placed a comforting hand on Jaime's head. "Don't worry. This is just a normal human virus that you picked up from a normal human, I promise. Get a little rest and it'll run its course. Alright?"

Jaime didn't look entirely convinced, but he was calmed by Zelgadis' reassurance and drank the rest of the water before resting back against the pillow and drifting off again. Amelia left to get an ice pack, and once she returned, he appeared to be sound asleep. She placed the pack on Jaime's forehead and returned to the other bed where Zelgadis was sitting, as Jaime was taking up the very middle of the bed they'd been sharing.

Zelgadis sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I should've known this would happen. Kids are always the most vulnerable to these sorts of things. Thanks for helping out."

"It's the least I can do for ditching you guys today." Amelia shrugged. "But I'm curious. Did he say that you found a diseased plant in the greenhouse?"

"Yes. Crown gall; it's a pretty common infection caused by a member of the genus _Agrobacterium_. I didn't think it was anything to be worried about, but I guess it made more of an impression on Jaime than I thought-"

"Did you report it?"

"Huh?"

"The disease. Did you report it?" Amelia repeated. "Remember, the greenhouse is supposed to be an environment free from pests and disease. If something has infected the plants, they need to know about it right away."

"It…" Zelgadis glanced away. "…it was in the private lab that Jaime wandered into. We weren't supposed to be there, remember? Of course I didn't report it."

Amelia rolled her eyes and sighed, but she couldn't argue with his logic. "I suppose if it was in a lab, the researchers must know about it. But why wouldn't they do anything about it?"

"It could be they're using the plant to produce the bacteria," Zelgadis suggested. "I don't see why some agar and a petri dish wouldn't suffice, but it's not my project. They might be interested in the effects of _A. tumefaciens_ on the plant community."

"Why do you know so much about this particular plant disease anyway?" Amelia gave him a playful nudge. "Are you this nerdy about all kinds of plant diseases, or do you just so happen to be an expert on this particular one?"

"The latter, I can assure you." Zelgadis laughed. "I'd need a lifetime to learn about all the plant diseases out there."

"That many, huh? So why this one in particular? Did Rezo teach you about it?"

Zelgadis shook his head. "No, it was something that came up in my personal research."

"Why?"

"Because _Agrobacterium tumefaciens_ was… an essential component in the first recorded attempts at producing chimeras."

The two managed to share Amelia's bed for the night, which was a feat in itself probably made easier by the fact that one of them was awake every few hours tending to Jaime.

But as little sleep as they got that night, Amelia didn't ask him again about the plant disease.

* * *

"Make us."

Adelaide's request was met with a clear response.

" _If that_ _'s what it takes._ "

A physical form manifested in front of them, appearing as nothing more than shadows, and yet clearly solid as it blasted along the side of the mountain and made a beeline for the group. Holly screamed and grabbed onto Michael's side while Adelaide stepped in front of them to block whatever attack was coming. Unfortunately, her instinct was to reach for her sword, forgetting that she didn't have it. The action caused her to fumble for a split second, and that allowed her opponent to overtake her, the world around her dissolving into darkness.

" _MEGIDO FLARE!_ _"_

Adelaide's spell shot out in all directions, causing both her opponent and her companions to scatter. She glanced over at Holly and Michael, motioning them back down the path.

"Go! Take cover! I'll handle this-"

She was barely able to finish her sentence before the creature engaged her once again.

Thankfully for her, the thing's speed seemed much more for defensive purposes than for offense. Either that, or it was too stupid to use its speed to attack directly. As Adelaide traded white magic spells for its haphazard strikes, she tried to size it up. It was definitely a Mazoku, that much was clear by the miasma that it seemed to be exuding. But with attacks that had little power behind them and a form that was far from humanoid, it had to be pretty low-ranking. It was clearly a sentry, put up to deter passersby from getting involved. As long as Adelaide could keep their fight one-on-one, she was pretty sure that she could take it.

Unfortunately, the Mazoku had figured that out too.

Adelaide's sharp ears had picked up the sound of Michael and Holly arguing about something a short distance away, but she wasn't going to concern herself with it. But she tensed up as she realized that the Mazoku had honed in on the sound as well. She couldn't see it well in the dark, but she could sense it changing focus… and preparing an attack.

_No-!_

Once Adelaide had yelled at them to take cover, Michael didn't hesitate. He started to sprint away, but as he made it a short distance down the path, he realized that Holly wasn't following him. Instead, she was standing between where he was and where Adelaide and the Mazoku had become hidden behind a cloak of smoke and dust.

Michael grabbed Holly by the shoulders, pushing her back down the path. "C'mon- Adelaide isn't covering for us so that we can stand here in the line of fire! The sooner we get out of danger, the better. Follow me-"

"No!" She dug in her heels. "I'm the one who's supposed to be protecting you!"

"This is not the time for that!"

"But I-"

"HOLLY!"

Michael wrapped his arms around her and shoved her aside, causing her to tumble over as one of the Mazoku's attacks barely grazed her. She heard a scream from Michael, and once she was able to open her eyes, she did so and followed suit.

Adelaide had turned on her heels, seeing the Mazoku changing targets, but it was too late. She first saw a pair of glasses, scuffed and cracked, landing on the ground at her feet. But as she raised her gaze to the field, the image of a man's body came into view, a crumpled heap of clothing and lavender hair outlined by dark red. Her blood went cold and she screamed as well.

" _MICHAEL_!"


	11. Crime and Punishment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**11- Crime and Punishment**

" _MICHAEL_!"

Adelaide abandoned her fight with the Mazoku in order to rush to his side. Holly was screaming, locked in place where she stood, making her an easy target for the enemy. Adelaide panicked, trying to decide whether to cover Holly or immediately tend to Michael's wounds. However, the Mazoku they were fighting made the former unnecessary, appearing in front of the group a short distance away.

Now that it had stopped moving and revealed itself, Adelaide could make it out better. It was more humanoid than she'd first thought, though much of its body was hidden under what looked to be a dark grey cloak. " _If you do not wish him to die, return to Taforashia,_ " it spoke, gesturing to Michael. " _Leave now and no further harm will come to you._ "

Holly had found the courage to move, shuffling over to cling to Adelaide's side as the woman worked her White Magic on Michael's wounds. "P-promise?" she sniffled.

" _You have my word, on behalf of AVA_."

As Adelaide had thought, this Mazoku was nothing more than a sentry. It wasn't interested in doing anything other than protecting the property, and knowing that it wasn't powerful enough to take on a White Magic sorceress at her level, it was doing all it could to get them out of there. She might as well take advantage of this.

"I can't move him until the _Recovery_ spell gets him in a stable enough condition," she explained. "It'll take a few minutes, but we'll leave immediately once it's safe. In the meantime, I have a question for you."

" _I don_ _'t think you're in a position to be asking the questions._ "

"True. You don't have to answer." Adelaide shook her head. "But I'm curious to know- why has AVA hired a Mazoku if it's a human-run organization? Pacts with Mazoku are generally frowned-upon or forbidden by human labor unions, and surely mine workers would be part of one."

The Mazoku was silent.

"Or is it the other way around? Is AVA a Mazoku-run organization that hires humans?"

Once again, her question was met with silence on the other end. The Mazoku, however, finally responded with a throaty laugh. " _Take the old man and go. Perhaps next time you come snooping in our business you won_ _'t make the mistake of bringing along such vulnerable companions, Lady Adelaide._ "

It knew her name. That detail in itself seemed to confirm some of her suspicions.

With a reluctant sigh, Adelaide shifted Michael's weight onto her shoulders, picking him up off the ground. "Let's go, Holly. We're going to be in some _big_ trouble when we get back."

Sniffling, Holly followed along with her hand clasping the back of Michael's coat. Adelaide could hear her quiet sobs, something along the lines of " _I was supposed to be his chaperone_ _… I was supposed to protect him…_ "

One last glance back to where the Mazoku was watching them confirmed for Adelaide that they weren't going to be followed, but her relief lasted only for a few seconds before a sense of despair set in. Everything had happened so fast, she hadn't had the chance to realize just how grave the situation was.

Good gods, what had she _done_?

Her breath hitched in her throat as she felt Michael's weight on her back. She had been able to stop the bleeding and relocate his shoulder, but whatever attack had hit him had done internal damage that needed to be looked at in a hospital. It had hit his right shoulderblade, the magic burning the skin away and the force knocking his shoulder joint awry. When he woke up, he was going to be in a _lot_ of pain, not to mention that he needed antibiotics to keep from developing an infection from the dirt that had gotten into his wound. And she'd expected a simple sword or a little girl with elementary magic knowledge to protect him. Was she stupid?

"Holly," she finally spoke up again, her voice cracking. "The first thing I'm going to do is take Michael to the hospital. He's going to need immediate attention. You go straight home, okay? Your mother might already know you're gone and be worrying."

Holly continued to sniffle, wiping her cheeks with her free hand. "Mommy's gonna be so mad at me. I let Mister Michael get hurt real bad-"

"I think she'll be angrier that you put yourself in danger. By telling you to keep an eye on Michael, your mother was probably trying to get you to stay _out_ of trouble. She didn't want you coming back here. And it's all my fault for letting you come with me so easily…"

After all that had happened, Adelaide had defied the orders of higher-ups in the Taforashian royal guard. Not only that, she'd taken civilians with her, causing major injury to one of the refugees that Taforashia had been so concerned about and endangering the child of an AVA employee. She could already imagine the political and social punishments she was going to receive as a result.

And yet, the most frightening thought was how utterly _disappointed_ Pokota was going to be in her.

That was going to hurt more than anything.

* * *

There was a group waiting for them when they got back to the main square.

It wasn't a large group, but it was the people that made it up who were more important. Mrs. Morue was there, followed by a few members of Taforashia's royal guard, Pokota, and Pokota's father. Adelaide realized in horror that the _king_ had gone out in the middle of the night to search for them and suddenly wished that she were the one who'd been shot.

"HOLLY!" Lydia wasted no time in rushing to her daughter's side, taking the girl by the shoulders and holding her out as she sent a barrage of questions her way. "What happened? Where did you go? Who did this? Are you okay?"

Holly's sniffling made it clear that she wasn't going to give an intelligible answer, so Lydia instead offered her a hug, holding her close and whispering words of comfort. Adelaide had honestly expected more of a stern reaction from the woman, so she was put off for a moment. But Michael's weight against her shoulders brought her back to reality and she stepped toward the closest guard.

"We were at the mine. Please, I'll explain everything soon. I did the best I could with _Recovery_ spells, but Mister Belmonte needs a doctor immediately. Will you take him to the hospital?"

The guards looked over at the king as if asking for approval, and he waved a hand at them.

"Go ahead. Posel and I will handle the situation with Lady Adelaide. Going against the orders of my royal guard is a crime I'd prefer to deal with myself."

"Yes sir." The guards bowed, and the one nearest to Adelaide reached out to take Michael from her. She tried to be gentle with him as she passed him over, but to the surprise of the group, he began to stir once supported by the guard.

"… _please_ _…"_ he began weakly, "… _don_ _'t blame Adelaide…it was my fault, and she… was just trying to protect… me…"_

Adelaide stiffened. What was he saying?

"Trying to protect you? From what?" Pokota asked, perching on his father's shoulder. "What happened?"

" _I insisted_ _… on going to Senagra in secret… A-Adelaide tried to stop me… she told me the path was… off-limits… but I didn't listen… and we… were attacked…_ "

"Attacked by whom?" Lydia called over. "If there are dangerous trespassers on the mine property, AVA needs to be alerted immediately-"

"It was an AVA sentry guarding the mine," Adelaide interrupted.

"That's absurd! They're not meant to hurt people!"

"We engaged him. He was only acting defensively."

"Defense? With all due respect, Mister Belmonte is not a large man and has little magical capacity. I can't imagine that one of AVA's sentries would be threatened by-"

" _Enough_." The king stepped in between the group, holding out his hands. He eyed Lydia first, then Adelaide, and then the guards. "Please take Mister Belmonte to the hospital and get him medical attention immediately. Mrs. Morue, you and your daughter should return to your lodgings. I'll meet with you tomorrow to discuss the incident and further interactions with AVA. Lady Adelaide, Posel and I will escort you back to the guest quarters at the palace. Come."

Michael cleared his throat as the guard carrying him turned around. " _…I-I'm… so sorry…_ "

The king shook his head, motioning for Adelaide to follow him and Pokota back down the road toward the palace. "No need for apologies, Mister Belmonte. You focus on regaining your health."

It was frighteningly quiet as Adelaide followed Pokota and his father down the path. No one was out and about in the city at this time of night, and the only sound was the echoing _clack_ of her heels against the bricks. Usually hearing her shoes against the floor like that made her feel powerful, but in this instance it only made her feel like she stuck out. There was no hiding from anyone anymore.

"Lady Adelaide," the king began, causing her to pause momentarily, "I must offer my apologies for my earlier accusation. You understand that, with the company you were keeping, it stood to reason that you must be the mastermind behind the whole deal."

"Am I to take that as a compliment?" she asked quietly.

"Yes."

Honestly, she'd hoped to get more out of him than that, but it _had_ been a yes or no question, and she figured the king wouldn't be particularly chatty after all that had happened. Pokota noticed this too, and tugged on the collar of his father's shirt.

"Dad, we have meetings with the people from Ruvinigald tomorrow afternoon. You should go back and get some sleep. I'll escort Adelaide back myself."

The king stopped and glanced back at Adelaide and then at his son. He sighed a heavy, tired sigh. "Fair enough. Lady Adelaide, stay with Posel until you reach your quarters. I expect you two won't take long. You have responsibilities tomorrow as well."

"Yes, your Majesty." Adelaide bowed and watched as the king followed another path up to the palace's west entrance. Pokota hopped over and landed on Adelaide's shoulder, but he didn't say anything. Feeling too awkward to speak up, Adelaide simply turned and continued toward the guest quarters. The atmosphere was stifling, and to be honest, she kind of hoped that Pokota wouldn't speak the whole time so that she could avoid an awkward conversation.

About halfway there, however, the silence between them was finally broken.

"I'm sorry, Adelaide."

"Hmm?" She glanced over. "For what?"

"I was the one who blamed you first. Mrs. Morue found Holly missing several hours ago and contacted the royal guard. Her first thought was that something had happened with Michael, and upon confirming that, they came to us since you and I were the last ones to leave Taforashia with them. And then we couldn't find you, and I assumed…" He let his voice trail off. "I should've known better than to think you'd blatantly disobey orders from the royal guard. I'm sorry."

Adelaide tapped her fingers against the hilt of her sword, trying not to look at Pokota. "Don't be sorry," she muttered. "You were right."

"Right about what?"

"Right about everything. Michael lied. That jerk…" She stopped walking, too overcome with frustration to continue until she'd vented. "He acts like such a coward, yet he took a blow to protect Holly and then lied to protect me even thought it was _my_ fault he got hurt in the first place! I don't understand him at all!"

"Adelaide, what are you saying?" Pokota hopped onto the ground so that he could stand in front of her, looking up at her expectantly. "You seriously went to the mine against orders? What the hell were you thinking? You're going to blow your chance to seal our countries' negotiations, you idiot-"

She cut him off without even thinking. "Shut up! Quit talking like I ever had a chance in the first place! You know fully well that your people were never going to accept me in the first place."

"Of course they will! They would if you'd just take this seriously."

Adelaide ground her teeth. "But _they_ _'re_ not taking _me_ seriously- someone's already breached confidentiality!"

Her statement left Pokota so surprised, he was frozen in place for a few seconds. This allowed Adelaide to walk past him, starting on the way back to her room on her own. Eventually, however, she heard his voice following after her and she stopped outside the door to the guest wing of the palace.

"Wait a minute! What do you mean by that?"

Pokota caught up to her, breathing heavily. She opened the door silently for him and gestured inside as if refusing to answer until they were inside the building. He tossed her a dirty look but entered anyway and hopped up onto the hall table.

"What I mean is," Adelaide finally spoke as she closed the door behind them, "someone let slip some of the proposed details of the deal with Ruvinigald. Y'know- the ones that are supposed to remain confidential until everything is finalized. No government worker would do that if they really thought the deal was going to go through. They had to be _joking_ about it-"

"H-hey, slow down! What proposal are we talking about?" Pokota interrupted. "If it's something minor-"

"Someone was talking about the _marriage_ , genius!" Adelaide snapped. She paused and sighed, trying to remain calm despite everything that was going through her mind. "…Holly asked me if I was _the girl who_ _'s going to marry the prince_. She said she overheard someone in the Grand Hall discussing a political marriage between the prince of Taforashia and some foreign noble."

She turned her back to Pokota, starting down the hallway and expecting him to follow. He did so, jumping onto her shoulder and tugging on her braid. "Don't jump to conclusions so fast. It might just be speculation rather than a breach of the proposal details. I mean, a redeveloping nation with a prince of marriageable age suddenly starts negotiations that include a beautiful foreign noblewoman- how are people not going to speculate something like that? Adelaide?"

By this point she'd reached the door to her room and was fumbling for the key in her pocket to unlock it. "Even so, I'm sure it was more of a joke than speculation," she said as the door creaked open. "As if that Ruvinigald brat really thinks Taforashia is going to let her become its _princess_ -"

"You don't know that. Why are you so pessimistic about what my people think of you?" Pokota shook his head, finally blurting out what he'd been avoiding asking this whole time. "Do you dislike the people of Taforashia that much?"

" _No._ "

The answer was curt and spoken in almost a whisper. Adelaide allowed herself to fall back onto the bed, the comforting feeling of the blankets underneath her a sharp contrast to the gnawing ache in her chest.

"It's… just the opposite," she began again. "I love them. I want them to accept me. I want it so badly, I don't know what to do with myself. But I'm… just so scared…"

Pokota hopped onto the bed beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Adelaide…"

She rolled over in his direction, clutching at the blankets. "But I can never undo what my mother and grandfather did. I'm descended from two families with Taforashian blood on their hands. There's no changing that and everyone knows it. I never had a chance from the start and yet I got my hopes up so high because of what I felt for the people of Taforashia… and for you."

"…" Pokota was quiet for a few moments. He finally spoke up with a sigh. "Did you forget already? We decided to arrange this deal because we wanted our countries to have a friendship as close as ours. There's no shame in that. And because of Michael, we might still have that chance. You can't waste it, Adelaide."

Adelaide sat up again, pulling her knees against her chest. "No. I need to tell your father the truth."

"But-"

"Can you arrange a meeting between your father and me tomorrow morning? He needs to know before any of the negotiations take place." She reached out and grabbed Pokota's ears, intertwining his "fingers" with her own. "If I hide my mistakes and wrongdoings, I'm just as bad as the family I'm trying to break away from. I have to."

Pokota managed a grin despite himself. "Alright, I will. But maybe you should think about that _before_ disobeying the orders of the royal guard?"

For the first time since the incident that evening, Adelaide smiled.

"I'll remember that for next time."

"If there _is_ a next time."

Pokota's words echoed through the room long after he'd left. Adelaide, however, was too exhausted to think too hard about them and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

As Pokota had promised, he secured a meeting between Adelaide and his father that morning following breakfast and before any of his father's advisers came in. It was the first time that Adelaide had been alone with the king and she tried not to let her nervousness show. Part of her had hoped that Pokota would stay, but she knew that she had to do this on her own and he knew it too.

"Sit anywhere you like, Lady Adelaide." The king, seated at his desk, motioned to the chairs across from him. "I trust you were able to get at least some rest this morning?"

"Yes sir." Adelaide gave a nod. "I apologize for waking you so late last night because of my carelessness."

"There's no need to apologize. You were simply protecting a civilian under Taforashia's care."

"But… I wasn't…" She stopped, her breath catching in her throat before she continued. "…what Michael said last night was a lie. Traveling to the mine by night was my idea, and he and Holly begged to come along. I should've known better than to endanger them by taking them with me. The fact that Michael was hurt so badly is my fault."

There was a tense silence as she waited for the king's response. Adelaide wanted to stay looking at the floor, but she willed herself to look up at him and make eye contact. This was something she had to own up to properly.

"So you're saying," the king began, "that despite Mrs. Morue's statements otherwise, you _knew_ that there was a likelihood you would be attacked when you approached the mine?"

It wasn't the question Adelaide had expected, but she answered obediently anyway. "Yes, your Majesty. I did."

"And… _how_ exactly did you know this? Do you know something about AVA that we _don_ _'t_?"


	12. Letter of Intent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a principle of mine that I don't leave things unfinished. That being said, it usually doesn't take me this long to finish things, and I'm sorry- both to myself and to those who read and enjoyed this story. My intention now is to continue posting on a slower-but-consistent basis until the story is complete. You can look for updates every other Monday from now on. Thank you very much for your support, and I hope that, if you continue to read the story, you'll enjoy it! As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Thanks again.

 

**12- Letter of Intent**

"Do you know something about AVA that we don't?"

Once again, Adelaide hadn't expected the question and it took her some time to think of the most prudent answer.

"...To say I  _know_ these things is a stretch. I have some hunches backed up by my experiences as well as some personal research I performed yesterday. Part of the reason for my betrayal was to confirm my suspicions on the dangers that AVA might pose to the citizens. I don't consider that justification for my crime, I assure you, but-"

The king shook his head, holding a hand up to cut her off. "Lady Adelaide, we can discuss the repercussions of your actions later. Right now, I'd like to keep our conversation off the record, for the sake of hearing about your so-called  _hunches._ What exactly makes you believe something isn't right with AVA?"

"It's… several different things, actually," Adelaide replied. She had to force herself to look the king in the eyes, knowing it would be rude to avert her gaze no matter how nervous she was. "I had some initial misgivings about the organization after our first attempt to escort Michael to Senagra, but they were nothing but gut feelings. So yesterday I did some research into public records on AVA's activity. Since Taforashia has accepted records from neighboring countries to supplement their own during reconstruction, I was able to find a  _lot_ of information about their business practices, both production and sales. And I'll admit that I'm no accountant, but even to me it didn't add up."

"You're saying that they sold more than they produced?" the king asked.

"No, just the opposite. Their production of copper according to the geological records has been decreasing only slightly over the past decade. But the amount of copper that they've been selling has gone down  _considerably_. I checked records of copper prices too, and there isn't a lack of demand. AVA must be keeping the copper they mine for internal uses."

The king frowned and crossed his arms, sitting back in his chair. "And is that necessarily a bad thing?"

"Not on its own. But they've also reported employees in pharmaceutical and health professions. These employees, connected with the upkeep on laboratory facilities, seems to suggest that there's some sort of lab work being done. But they haven't applied for any patents or even submitted paperwork for approval by the institutional review board. Either these researchers are getting paid for doing nothing, or they're doing work that isn't approved or even acknowledged by ethics management authorities."

"So long as they're not publishing their work, there's nothing we can do about that," the king replied, though Adelaide could see a sense of intrigue in his expression. "But I agree that it is at least enough information to make one suspicious."

"Then last night, Michael, Holly, and I were attacked by a Mazoku at the mine," Adelaide continued. "I don't have any verification besides eyewitness accounts by a child and an injured man, but the Mazoku  _did_ claim affiliation with AVA, and when I asked it whether the organization was run by humans or Mazoku, it didn't offer a straight answer."

"I see. Because you were disobeying royal orders during the encounter, I can't back up those final claims. But you do have a basis from public records to expand upon should you decide to pursue further information. I will support you if you do so."

That promise gave Adelaide a sense of nervous relief. For all the king's disapproval, he at least didn't seem to hate her. She knew it was a low bar, but it was nice regardless. It gave her the courage to continue in a more personal light.

"Um, there is  _one_ more thing…"

"Yes?"

"The Mazoku…" Adelaide fidgeted with her hands as she kept her eyes locked on the king's face. "...called me by name. It's possible that I have a reputation among Mazoku in general, but the only ones I've ever worked with were members of a rogue sect known as  _Abaddon_. I fear that the Mazoku's recognition of me could indicate that AVA has ties to Abaddon- or is even a subdivision of it."

The king leaned forward and raised an eyebrow. "Posel told me that Abaddon was disbanded after your previous encounter."

"Fragmented, perhaps, but unlikely disbanded. Abaddon had support from a Mazoku lord at one point and therefore has widely scattered interests. If AVA truly is an offshoot of the Abaddon sect, it would be harder to destroy given its reputation and financial assets."

This answer looked to assuage the king's skepticism, and he nodded in reply. "I do not have the experience and background to disagree with you in that regard. While I warn you to be careful, it might be a good idea for you to pursue this lead. Thank you for meeting with me on this matter, Lady Adelaide. As I said, we will keep the personal aspects of this conversation off the record for everyone's sake. If criminal charges were brought against a Ruvinigald noble, it would derail the treaty negotiations that we're so close to finalizing. Understand that this is not preferential treatment, but an act on behalf of both countries' citizens."

"Y-yes, of course, your majesty! I want only the best for the people of Taforashia and Ruvinigald!"

There was a long moment in which the room was filled with silence. Adelaide felt her cheeks flush as the king stared at her, unsure of whether she were going to be scolded or praised. The king finally smiled, laughing quietly to himself, and commented "You and Posel are so much alike. It's no wonder he likes you so much."

"I have a lot of respect for your son. He leads with such passion and bravery… I guess that's why I want to be close to him- so that I can learn from him."

"It's true that Taforashia's situation has forced Posel to develop a sense of wisdom beyond his years," the king replied, scratching his chin through his beard, "but you display an initiative beyond what one would expect of someone in your position. You're bright and charismatic, and Posel cares deeply for you." He sighed, a sense of melancholy passing over his face. "I'm sorry. If the situation were different, I'd approve of your marriage without a second thought."

Adelaide's stomach churned, and she finally allowed herself to look away. "I'm sorry too."

"There's nothing for  _you_  to be sorry for. The fact is, Posel needs someone who will help ground his wide-eyed idealism, someone who will be a voice of reason. The two of you together… your combined enthusiasm is an asset, but it might also land you in trouble someday if you take risks you don't fully think through."

The king's words took Adelaide by surprise. "Th-that's…" she began, cutting off and beginning the sentence again as she figured out what she wanted to say. "...I mean, you're saying that your opposition to the marriage is because of my leadership style? Not my family ties?"

"Family ties? Certainly not." The king shook his head. "I know that some people in Taforashia can't forgive your mother for what she did to our country. But you are just as much a victim of her evil as the rest of us, and no one blames you for the wrongs caused by family members whose acts you had no say in. We're thinking only of the future of Taforashia's leadership."

"...So… so…" Adelaide began to stammer as she spoke. "...if Posel and I were to prove that we're capable of working effectively in leadership together, you might reconsider?"

The king had to stop and think about that. He paused, and an amused smile passed over his face.

"It's possible that your rash natures are simply a result of your youth. If the two of you spend some time and introspection working to understand how to focus your talents and overcome your weaknesses, then… yes, perhaps I would."

"Y-y-your majesty, thank you!" Adelaide shot to her feet so that she could bow. "Posel and I will work hard to understand where we fall short as leaders and change our behavior to overcome our failures. We'll make you proud, I promise!"

"You two already make me proud. And if you could find happiness together, it would make me happy as well."

It was still early in the morning, and Pokota hadn't made it very far from bed yet. He was making his way to the dining room for breakfast, expecting to meet Adelaide and his father there. But as he stumbled down the hall half-asleep, he was startled out of his stupor by someone grabbing hold of him and twirling him around in her arms.

"Pokota! I've figured it out! I know how we can expose AVA!"

"W-w-whoa…" Pokota had a hard time making sense of her words as the world spun around him. "...we can  _what_?"

"Ah! Sorry." Adelaide noticed his dizziness and let go, offering a smile in apology. "It's just, talking to your father gave me the chance to go through what I know about AVA. From what I learned yesterday and last night, I was positive it's a Mazoku-run operation. But now I have a plan to prove it. I just need your help."

"Wait a minute! What did my dad say?" Pokota hopped onto her shoulder. "I thought you were going to tell him the truth about last night."

"I did. He asked for my reasoning, and I gave him a thorough report. It's just as I said- AVA is a Mazoku front, and I want to expose them as such."

"So you're not in trouble?"

"For the sake of the in-progress treaty, he said he'd keep the conversation between the two of us. So I want to make it up to him by ensuring the safety of Taforashia's people."

"That's a great idea, but where would we begin?"

"With someone who knows the company from the inside," Adelaide replied. "And I know  _just_  the person."

* * *

With breakfast behind them, Adelaide and Pokota started out toward the city. They were on their way to the largest of Taforashia's inns, where AVA's representatives were currently housed, but they were stopped as they passed the post office on the way.

"Prince! Oh, and Lady Adelaide too! May I ask a favor of you?"

The two stopped, offering a pleasant smile to the mailman who'd flagged them down. "Is something the matter?" Pokota asked.

"Well, we received a letter from Senagra addressed to one of the refugees, but it has no further information. Do you know a Michael Belmonte?"

Adelaide gasped. "A letter for Michael? Who's it from?"

"I'm not sure. I would guess a family member sent it-"

"It must be from Carmen and Jaime!" Pokota gasped, taking the letter from the man's hands. "Michael is in the hospital right now, but we can deliver this right to him."

"Oh, we'll be happy to deliver it if you could give us his room number-"

"No need." Adelaide shook her head. "I really ought to visit him anyway. I need to thank him for his help."

"Well, if you're sure, I trust Prince Posel to deliver the message safely. Many thanks, Prince!"

It was an abrupt change to the plans they'd been so excited about just minutes earlier, but neither one objected. Adelaide, in particular, had seen how Michael spoke about his family the night before. Giving him reassurance of his family's well-being as soon as possible was the least she could do for him after he'd risked his life for her.

The hospital itself was cold, but the friendly faces of the nurses and staff made up for it. It was one of the things Adelaide loved about Taforashia- even in a place like this, people were always so full of hope. Not at all like the complacent people of Ruvinigald. It made her all the more determined to prove herself to the king, and all the more determined to spread hope to the man who'd saved her life.

They entered Michael's room to find him not asleep, but arguing with a nurse.

"I'm telling you, I need to get to Senagra! They're waiting for me!"

"Sir, you can't go anywhere with the injuries you've sustained. There is still a risk of internal bleeding, and the fact that you're running a fever means there's an infection developing. I can't release you until the doctor gives you a clean bill of health-"

"There's not enough time! This is my  _family_ we're talking about! They could be in danger!"

Adelaide cleared her throat before the nurse could reply, and both she and Michael turned to look at the newcomers. Michael gasped and waved the two in.

"You guys know! Tell the nurse! I need to get out of here so I can go to Senagra!"

Pokota hopped over onto the bed, clambering to sit on Michael's knees. "I'm really sorry, but you're not in any shape to leave. Besides, it sounds like you're a little delirious. We have a letter here for you that should hopefully ease your worries. Will you at least read it?"

Michael was silent for a moment as he listened, but he perked up as Pokota mentioned the letter. "A letter? From who?"

"I'm not sure. Can I open it?" Adelaide replied.

"Yes, yes! And, uh, if you could read it to me… my glasses broke last night, so…"

The nurse let out a relieved sigh and started toward the door. "The doctor has prescribed an antibiotic to help combat the infection. I'll be back with that once the pharmacy gets it ready. You're welcome to visit as much as you like in the meantime, Prince."

"Thank you!" Pokota waved to the nurse, and then joined Adelaide in the chair where she'd taken a seat, already ripping into the envelope. She glanced down at the end of the letter first to find the signature, and her eyes lit up.

"It's from Carmen."

Michael let out a choking sound, as though he were about to cry. " _Oh_! Oh, thank goodness!"

"It says,  _Dear Michael and Ja_ -" Adelaide began to read, but stopped immediately before she got to the end of the address line.

_Oh no_.

"It says what?" Michael asked. "I didn't catch what you said."

"Uh, j-just…  _dear Michael…_ " Adelaide continued, trying to brush what she'd just said aside. Pokota had already read further into the letter and was frowning, but Adelaide kept a smile if only to keep her voice upbeat. " _I hope that you're safe and well in Taforashia after what happened at the mine. I'm writing to assure you of my safety here in Senagra as well, so that you won't worry. I'm sure that J-_ er,  _I'm sure you must be beside yourself, but I promise, I'll continue to write. I'm under the care of a very kind couple helping out here at the village, and I can't wait for you to meet them. I'm sorry to say that the landslide completely took our house, but thanks to Lina and Gour-_ " Adelaide stopped, and Pokota broke in at the same moment.

"What?! Lina and Gourry are in Senagra? No way!"

"Who are they?" Michael asked. "Friends of yours?"

"That's right. They're close friends of ours," Adelaide replied with a nod. "Carmen says ' _thanks to Lina and Gourry, we were able to recover my old family painting that you liked so much. Gourry even asked to buy one of your paintings! Can you believe it? I hope we'll be able to reunite with you soon, so that Lina and Gourry can actually meet you and Jaime-"_

Adelaide stopped, but she wasn't able to cut herself off before she said the name. Michael sat up, leaning forward with a frown. "Wait… what was that about Jaime?"

Pokota and Adelaide glanced at one another. "The letter, uh…" Pokota began, "...the letter seems to imply that Jaime isn't in Senagra. It sounds like Carmen assumes he's here with you."

"..." Michael opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He raised a hand and then lowered it, staring at it with a blank expression. "...I don't…  _what_? But he's… he's not."

"True, he's not. But that doesn't mean-" Adelaide stammered. "-er, I'm sure he's alright. It's possible that ended up somewhere else. I heard that Seyruun's Botanical Research Institute to the east took in some refugees. Pokota and I can send a letter to the institute and see if-"

"No, no, no, no!" Michael began to yell, pushing the blanket off of his lap as though he were going to get up. Adelaide and Pokota both jumped to their feet, rushing to keep him from going anywhere.

"Please, Michael, you can't overreact! Not like this. You're hurt and feverish, and… I'm sorry, we shouldn't have delivered this letter to you when you're in this condition." Pokota shook his head. "We'll do everything we can to find out where Jaime is. You need to stay here and rest. Can you trust us?"

"But-!" Michael tried to push Adelaide away, but she held her ground.

"You heard me last night when I spoke about my own father. I don't take the importance of family bonds lightly. I  _will_ find your son. But it would ruin the whole point if you weren't there to greet him. I know he misses you- so for Jaime's sake, will you please allow yourself to rest and recover?"

Michael frowned and looked away. "B-but… but…"

" _Excuse me. Mister Belmonte_?" Another nurse poked her head into the door and waved at the group. "I brought your medicine."

"Thank you! Please, come in." Pokota waved back and looked to Michael again. "See? There are people here trying to help you recover. For Carmen and Jaime's sake, please. Let them help."

Michael let out a sigh. "I don't really have a choice, do I? If I try to leave, you'll just tie me down."

"We don't intend to do that," Pokota replied. "Please just trust us- we want what's best for you and Jaime."

There was a moment of silence, and finally Michael leaned back in bed. "...fine," he responded. "Where's that medicine?"

"Here." The nurse passed him a pair of pills, along with a cookie. "It should be taken with food, so don't forget to eat."

Michael nodded. "Thanks. I'll get to that once Adelaide and the prince are gone."

Adelaide started toward the door, offering Michael a smile and a wave. "Thank you, Michael. I promise, we're going to do everything we can to find Jaime. We'll let you know as soon as we find out something."

"Thank you…" he murmured in reply, though it was half-hearted and both Adelaide and Pokota could tell.

Still- what could they do?

The nurse left the room along with them so that she could check on other guests, and Michael was alone in the room once again. He looked down at the cookie and medicine in his hand and sighed, placing them both on the side table next to the bed. There was a lot he had to consider. The worry of the situation was churning in his stomach, causing a bout of nausea. He was trying to make it pass before he tried to eat anything, but as he lay back, a wave of exhaustion passed over him. He closed his eyes, planning to rest for just a few minutes…

...but before he realized what was happening, he'd already fallen asleep.


	13. Hold True

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I don't own anything. I'm a fan writing some fiction… and I'm really trying. Please be patient with me and enjoy the story in the meantime.

 

**13- Hold True**

Holly and her mother were staying in a suite in one of Taforashia's larger hotels. Holly was in the bedroom portion working on schoolwork, so Mrs. Morue took Adelaide and Pokota into the small kitchen to speak privately. She brewed a pot of tea for them, and while Adelaide and Pokota assured her that she didn't have to do so, they politely accepted.

"What exactly is it you'd like to ask?" She began as she poured the tea into each of their cups. The teapot was unsteady in her hands, and some tea spilled out onto the counter. She gasped and started to reach for a napkin, but Adelaide got to the napkin holder first.

"I'll take care of it. You just calm down."

"Easier said than done after what happened last night," Morue answered, but she sat down anyway. "I know you're a prince, but with the situation the way it is, there are things about AVA that I can't tell even you."

"I understand," Pokota answered with a nod before Adelaide could protest. "You don't  _have_  to tell us anything. But we have reason to believe that AVA is an organization run behind the scenes by malevolent Mazoku."

"I c-cannot speak on that matter," Mrs. Morue answered, her voice hitching as her professional demeanor momentarily wavered. "My apologies."

Adelaide frowned. "Is it because you don't know? Or are you afraid of what AVA would do to you if you divulged that information?"

The answer that Morue gave was only silence. She stared down at her own cup of tea, her eyes focused on following the patterns of bubbles as they swirled around. Pokota spoke up softly.

"If you don't want to answer, you can just say  _no comment_."

"No comment," Morue replied in almost a whisper.

Adelaide and Pokota glanced at one another. This was certainly not the cold, professional woman that they'd spoken to before. Something about her was different, just in the intonation of her voice and the look in her eyes. There was something missing, but they couldn't pinpoint just what. Was it… the sense of control?

"...Mrs. Morue," Adelaide began, "We want to fight against AVA. But there are other ways of getting the information that we need, so long as we know what we're looking for. Would you be willing to talk to us  _off the record_?"

Pokota glanced over at Adelaide with a frown. It was clear where she was going with this, and while he wasn't sure he liked it, he couldn't blame her.

"We'll happily keep your name and any identifying characteristics out of our investigation," he promised. "Whatever it takes to ensure that you feel safe giving us this information, we'll do it."

Mrs. Morue was silent for a long time, glancing back and forth between her tea and the window off to the side. "I suppose I don't have much choice…" she murmured.

"O-of course we won't force you-" Pokota began, but she cut him off.

"No. It's okay. Someone else should at least know." Mrs. Morue shook her head and finally looked up at them. "I got involved with AVA because of my husband. He worked for a pharmaceutical company in Lyzeille that went out of business and was bought out by AVA. They set him to work on a project using copper to stimulate immune function in lab animals, so we assumed that they were working toward human interests. By the time that my husband realized that he was working for Mazoku, he was already too deeply involved. He tried to quit, but when they insisted on tampering with his memories before allowing him to leave, he fled. The Mazoku caught him and… killed him."

"I'm so sorry," Adelaide murmured.

"They came after me next, because he had shared all the information with me. I had to either pledge loyalty to them or risk suffering the same fate. Holly was so young at the time, I couldn't risk leaving her alone at the mercy of those monster. So I signed on with AVA and became a representative to help keep their work secret. Every day my hatred for the Mazoku who killed the man I love grow stronger, but I'm not powerful enough to defend myself against them. I can only do what's best for Holly-"

"... _you said that they took him away…_ "

The voice that broke in was so quiet, it was almost inaudible. But the three heard it distinctly and turned around toward the door that Holly had opened just a crack, peeking out into the kitchen area. Mrs. Morue jumped to her feet.

"Holly, what are you doing? You're supposed to be working on your homework. Professor Low will be very upset with you if you come back from break without your mathematics work finished."

"...I knew what it meant. I knew the whole time. But you still lied to me… and I… I…" Tears filled Holly's eyes as she continued. "...I wanna  _do_ something. It's not fair to let the people who killed Daddy take you away from me too."

"Holly!" Lydia finally stepped away from the table so that she could scoop the girl up in her arms. "I told you, I  _promised_ you, what I'm doing is so that we can stay together. I have to work for them, to stay safe and keep from leaving you alone. Neither of us has the power to stop them. So this is the best I can do-"

"Adelaide and the prince have that power!"

Both Adelaide and Pokota perked up at the sound of Holly's interruption. They glanced at one another and then nodded in affirmation.

"As we said, there are different ways of fighting against AVA than directly opposing them," Pokota began. "We've fought before against a group that we believe to be related, and whom we toppled by attacking the structure of their hierarchy. With the information we can get by following AVA's paper trails, we can do the same thing in a business manner rather than through combat."

Holly frowned, staring blankly back at them. "Is that good?"

"Yes." Adelaide nodded. "It may be impossible to solve these issues without fighting. But if we can keep fighting to a minimum, it means fewer people have to get hurt."

"People like Mister Michael?"

"Yes. People like Michael."

"Is he alright?" Mrs. Morue asked. "I only caught a glimpse of him last night, but he looked to be in a bad way."

"We visited him this morning," Pokota replied, hopping over to sit on Holly's head. "There was a letter for him from his wife, and apparently his young son is unaccounted for in Senagra as well. His emotional distress is worse than his physical injuries, it seems, and I don't blame him."

"Oh no." Mrs. Morue covered her mouth. "I'm so sorry for him. The toll from this landslide is growing by the day… and to think AVA is profiting off of it…"

"Wait a minute. Profiting?" Pokota looked up at her. "How? The mine was impacted too, and I'm sure there had to be damage."

"Well..." Mrs. Morue began to speak again, but she stopped herself and turned away. "No, I'm sorry. I've said too much already. I really can't-"

"What is it, Mama?" Holly demanded. "You gotta tell us!"

Pokota leaned over Holly's forehead. "Calm down. We can't force her to say anything she isn't willing to. She knows AVA better than we do, and if she has reason to fear, we should respect that."

"I'm sorry." Lydia lowered her head. "But I've made the mistake before of feeling safe from their watchful eye and saying things I shouldn't."

Holly frowned. "But  _here_? They couldn't be-"

Before she could even finish speaking, there was a knock on the door. Everyone froze, and Pokota and Adelaide both turned toward the door. Adelaide placed a hand on the hilt of her sword and she nodded toward Pokota.

Pokota inched toward the door and opened it a crack, peeking through. He was ready to go on the defense if necessary, but the figure on the other side of the door was far from dangerous.

"Ah, Prince Posel…" It was a courier, a young man that Pokota was familiar with from royal council meetings. Pokota opened the door the rest of the way and stepped back to let him in, but the man stayed outside the door, peeking in. "I-I'm sorry, I'm here for Prince Posel. I have a message for him from the hospital."

"The hospital?" Pokota asked. "Did we forget something?"

"No, it's…" The man paused and shook his head. "It's that man, Michael Belmonte. He's disappeared."

Adelaide shot to her feet. "He's what?! When? We were just there a few hours ago! I thought they had someone watching him."

"They were short-staffed. One of the nurses told me that she'd checked on him less than fifteen minutes before, and he was sound asleep."

"Oh, man…" Pokota jumped across the table so that he could get to Adelaide's side. "He promised us that he'd take care of himself for his family sake. What does he think he's doing."

Holly tugged on Adelaide's sleeve. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Nothing, if we can help it." Adelaide placed a comforting hand on Holly's shoulder and looked back up at the messenger. "Tell the nurses that we have a pretty good idea of where he's gone. We'll track him down and bring him back as soon as we can."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Holly gasped, staring at Adelaide. "You know where he went?"

"Of course." It was Pokota who answered, but he and Adelaide were looking at each other, both sure the other was sharing their thoughts. "It's the obvious place."

"...Senagra," Lydia murmured. "He's trying to get through the mountain pass. AVA will  _kill_  him."

"Thank you for the information- I'm sorry we can't stay longer." Adelaide began gathering her belongings, throwing her back over her shoulder. "We'll let you know when he's returned safely-"

"Wait! Let me go with you!"

There was a pause as both Adelaide and Pokota stared at Mrs. Morue. Holly pressed next to her mother, a look of worry on her face. "Mommy? Are you sure?"

"Yes." Lydia nodded her head. "I may be able to reason with AVA. They don't tend to listen to humans like me, but it's no use not trying. Besides, I'm the one who's been so stubborn about not letting Michael return to his village. I'm partially responsible for all that you have been through. I can't let fear keep me from doing what's right any longer. Not when someone's life is in danger."

"Then I will go too!" Holly declared.

"Holly, no. You can't-"

"If you're going, I'm going! You can't leave me alone!"

"But-"

Adelaide stepped forward, reaching out to interrupt them. "Pokota and I will go ahead and get a head start. If we can find Michael before he reaches mine property, we can avoid a conflict entirely. The rest of this is your decision, so… whoever is coming, you can catch up with us should we need your help."

"Right." Lydia replied. "Be careful."

Pokota perched on Adelaide's head and directed a nod at the others.

"We will."

* * *

"What exactly does this measure again?"

Gourry held the compass up, examining it from a few different angles. Lina glanced up from the map she was marking for just long enough to see what he was looking at.

"You know what a compass does, Gourry-"

"Not that! I mean what you're writing on the map. I know you're marking the orientation of the barrier in different locations, but  _why_?"

"We're trying to determine the boundaries of the barrier to calculate its range," Lina replied, holding up the map for him to see. "This kind of ward creates a circular barrier around a certain point. If we can calculate the curvature of it around Senagra, we can determine the circumference- and therefore the radius and the centerpoint."

"Ugh." He grimaced. "That's a lot of math words. I don't like it."

"Well, lucky for you, you don't have to do any of the math. You're just here to help clear the way and provide moral support while I take measurements." Lina leaned back, offering him a smile and a wink. "Now lead the way, my trusty sidekick! If we let Lucan get too far ahead, he'll start whining."

"Right, right." Gourry shook his head and reached out a hand to tousle Lina's hair as he passed her. She laughed and elbowed him before following along behind him with her eyes on the map. The sunlight was bright, almost blinding in places, as the light-colored sandstone along the mountainsides acted as a reflector for the incoming rays. Lina had to cover her eyes and stop in an area with some sparse vegetation so that she could better see their position on the map.

"Hey, Gourry, if we keep going this way, we're going to hit a really steep hillside. We should walk around where the terrain is smoother. We'll lose some of the barrier points, but I think it'll make the trip quicker-"

She stopped mid-sentence as the bright light around her eased. As cloud had passed in front of the sun, covering their part of the mountain in a dense shadow. Lina gave a brief sigh of relief, but Gourry didn't let her enjoy it too much.

"Hey, I think that cloud is bringing rain with it. I can see it further up on the mountain."

"Oh, dammit." Lina turned her attention up at the sky. "And they forecasted only a twenty-percent chance of rain today!"

"We had a saying about that back in Elmekia," Gourry offered, his voice more pleasant than Lina thought he had a right to be. "Weather forecasts are made with the understanding that arid regions have small, fast-moving rain clouds that can strike at any time. The chance of rain may be 20 percent, but that's only until it starts raining. Then it's one-hundred percent!"

Lina forced a smile, her voice laced with sarcasm as she responded. "Very astute of you, Gourry. So does your new-and-improved weather forecast tell us where we can find shelter so that my map doesn't get ruined?"

"Mmm… oh!" Gourry scanned the area and then pointed off to the right. "Down there! It looks like Lucan found a little cave."

A slight drizzle was beginning to fall from the sky as the cloud grew nearer, and Lina gave Gourry an affectionate punch on the arm before starting down the path toward where Lucan was waiting for them.

"Good eyes, Gourry! And Lucan, of course. Let's just hope our one-hundred percent chance of rain doesn't last long."

Gourry rubbed his arm, but he was smiling and he gladly followed her down the path toward the little cave. It was moments like these- exploring new territory and finding new places- that he truly felt like he was where he belonged.

As long as Lina was there, of course.

* * *

Lina stepped into the shelter of the little cave first, having to bend down to get through the entryway. It opened up in the middle, however, and even Gourry was able to stand up straight once they got all the way in. Lucan ran around their feet, his tail wagging happily as he did so, and once he was sure they weren't going anywhere, he started sniffing around the edges of the cave.

"Careful, boy," Gourry warned. "There might be rattlesnakes around. They like cool places like this."

"This cave looks man-made," Lina observed, creating a  _lighting_ spell and shining it toward the rock wall in the back. "Sandstone doesn't usually form deep alcoves like this."

"There are tool marks on the walls." Gourry stepped to the side, placing his hand on the bare rock face. "I'll bet this little path was a road at one point, and people would stop here to rest and get out of the sun."

"You think?"

"Oh yeah. We had these all over in Elmekia. My brother and I used to play in them when we were kids."

"I-Is that so?"

Lina's voice was slightly muffled by the sound of the rain that had intensified suddenly outside. Gourry glanced out the entrance, sighed, and sat down next to the rock wall.

"Yep. My hometown is in a region of Elmekia called the ' _Black Hills_.' Unlike most of the arid plains around the country, the mountains there are full of trees, so they look dark from a distance. They're mostly made of granite, so it's a lot harder to cut caves into than this sandstone. But there is some sandstone where you can find gold, and even limestone with big caves in some areas…"

There was a brief silence as his voice trailed off, and Lina couldn't help blurting out "you know you don't have to talk about this if you don't want!"

"Huh?" He looked up in surprise. "What do you mean? I'm the one who brought it up."

"Well, yeah, but… I mean…" She fidgeted with her hands and glanced away. "I don't need to hear about your brother."

"Why not? Does it bother you?"

There was genuine concern in his voice, and Lina forced herself to look back at him. "Doesn't it bother  _you_?"

"No." Gourry's response was quick and definitive. "If I don't remember him, nobody will. Well, I mean, Meg will… and maybe our sister if she's still alive, but…" He paused and shook his head. "Weren't you the one who told me that as long as I remember him, he'll always be with me? Or was that Amelia? I forget."

It sounded like something Amelia would say, but Lina couldn't be sure. She heaved a sigh and sat down beside him, her hand moving to pet Lucan as he settled on her other side. "Of course you should remember him. I just didn't want remembering him to make you all sad again."

"All sad?"

"Y-y'know! That sort of mopey mood you've been in lately." Lina started gesturing with her hands, trying to add some substance to her words.  _Damn_ , she hated talking about feelings. "Ever since you found out about your brother- and lost your arm and all- you've been in this weird sort of daze. I know I shouldn't worry about you, but I can't help it sometimes."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you worry."

Lina crossed her arms and turned her head away with a ' _hmph!_ ' Lucan lifted his head in disappointment that she'd stopped petting him, but she continued in a stern voice, and he inched away with a whine. "You  _should_ be sorry! It's not my job to babysit you."

"I know that. But I'm trying, okay?"

"Well, try harder!"

Lina didn't think anything of her response. It was just her usual pushy demeanor. And yet, as soon as it was out of her mouth, she felt an odd sense of regret. She could see a look of surprise on Gourry's face, almost as if he were offended. He didn't reply right away, turning his face up toward the cave ceiling with a frown.

"...easy for you to say…"

Lina bit her lip, having to swallow back a knee-jerk defense. "Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it? But it's not like I'm trying to push you too far. I just want the old Gourry back, is all."

He turned to look at her again. "The  _what_?"

"I said I want the old Gourry back."

"I know. I heard you." His frown had grown, and a rare look of stern annoyance filled his eyes. "I just wasn't aware there were different versions of me."

"Well, it's-" Lina stumbled over her words at first, but she grew more sure of herself as she continued. "-it's just that you're acting different. I don't know if it's your brother or your arm or a combination of the two, but it's like you've been a different person lately! All I'm doing is trying to figure out where the old Gourry went and get him back!"

"I…" Gourry narrowed his eyes. "...I'm the same person I was. There's no  _other me_  that you can find, no matter where you look."

"But the way you've been lately-"

"Is me! There's no  _old_ me or  _new_ me, it's just me. What's the matter with that anyway? Do you not like the  _new_ me?"

There was a pause, and Lina rose to her feet. It was rare that she got to stand over him while giving him a piece of her mind. This might not be the time or place to lord over him, but she didn't care. His cluelessness had gone far enough by this point. "You mean the quiet, moody Gourry that stays in bed all day and refuses to eat even his favorite foods? The one that doesn't seem to care about swordfighting or adventure or  _anybody besides himself_? No! Quite frankly, I don't."

A rumble of thunder from outside the cave seemed to echo her opinion. Gourry let out a sigh and then drew himself to his feet as well.

"Well, I'm sorry if you don't like me, but I'm the only  _me_ I've got. That's the me you've traveled with all these years, and that's the me you married. So if you're looking for somebody else, you should go do that. Stop pretending you're going to find that here."

Lina stared at him, trying to turn off the temper that she knew she was quickly losing control over. Unfortunately, she couldn't just take what he was saying. Did he  _want_  to be this way forever? He didn't even consider trying to get better?

"Maybe I  _will_!" she replied, her hands clenched into fists.

"Fine. Go ahead."

Uninterested in arguing- or even worse, sitting there in angry silence- Lina stuffed her map back in her pack and took off out of the cave and back up the hillside. It was still raining, but she didn't even bother to put the hood up on her cape. Within a few minutes of walking she'd made it to the edge of the rainstorm and back into the overcast sunlight, and she caught sight of some of Senagra's buildings over the cliffside. Not remembering being so close, she reached back and pulled out the map, looking over it to gather her bearings.

" _Ah_. I'm on that shortcut Carmen was telling us about." The statement was more to reassure herself than anything else, and she turned back the way she'd come for a brief moment, trying to figure out where to go next. The whole argument felt stupid already, but that was from her own perspective. If she headed back to the cave right away, Gourry might not have had enough time to cool off, and that could lead to more yelling. Better to give him some space while she sorted through her own feelings.

_Ugh. Feelings_.

Still, the best resource she had on feelings at the moment was back in Senagra. It might not be such a bad idea to go back and discuss the situation with Carmen. She said her husband had been through similar issues when they lost their son, right? Maybe she'd know what to do about Gourry.

It was better than standing around doing nothing. Lina started down the pathway back to the village.


	14. Broken Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still plugging away at this fic as best I can. I have too many in-progress stories going right now, so I'll try to kick into high gear so that I can finish this one. Thank you for all your support and patience! As usual, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**14- Broken Family**

"Lina? You're back already?"

Carmen was working at the hospital tent, but with all the patients in stable condition, she didn't have much work on her hands. She was happy to greet Lina when she arrived, but was concerned to see the sorceress all by herself.

"What happened? Where's Gourry?"

"Oh, I just needed a break is all," Lina answered with a laugh and a dismissive wave of her hand. "And Gourry is out doing some more… uh, surveying."

Carmen frowned. It looked like she didn't buy it. Of course- Lina could tell that the woman was naturally perceptive. For the concern on her face, however, Carmen didn't voice her reservations.

"I see. I can get you some cold water if you like. I'm sure you're hot from hiking in the sun all morning."

"We actually ran into some bad weather…" Lina replied, "...literally and figuratively. Um, Miss Carmen? Can I ask you for some advice?"

A look of relief passed over Carmen's face. "Of course you can. Come with me. Let's talk."

The two went to collect water from the volunteer station and then found a secluded place near the village square to sit and talk. Lina drank her share of water slowly, using it as an excuse to put off saying something. But Carmen was patient, and she waited for Lina to start the conversation herself.

"See, Gourry and I had a bit of a fight," she finally admitted. "I mean, we argue all the time, so I know we'll make up again like normal. I'm just concerned that he seems… complacent."

"What do you mean by that?" Carmen asked.

"Well, I just-" Lina began, and had to pause to collect her thoughts. "-I'm just worried about him. He's been having problems with motivation. He's depressed and anxious, and I don't know how to fix it. I told him I wanted the old Gourry back, and he got  _angry_ with me. He said there  _was_  no 'old Gourry,' like he wants to pretend nothing's changed. But he can't be that stupid! He knows what's going on!" Carmen had been quiet through the whole thing, and so Lina turned back to seek confirmation that she'd been heard. "Right?"

Well, of course he knows what's going on," Carmen replied. "When I spoke with him last night, he expressed a clear dissatisfaction with his current situation. He does want to recover. It's just a tricky thing."

"So? It's not like we haven't done tricky things before. Gourry's perfectly capable of handling any challenge that comes his way."

"Have you expressed that confidence in him?"

That was a question Lina hadn't thought about. She could feel herself blush and looked away. "H-he knows."

"Does he really?"

Lina turned back, her shoulders growing stiff. "Of course he does! I've relied on him time and time again! We've been through everything together. There's no way he could doubt that I trust him."

"But is it really him you trust?" Carmen repeated. "Or is it the  _'old_ Gourry?"

There was a pause.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't…" Lina began, leaning closer. "...I don't understand."

"By saying there's an 'old Gourry' you want to find, you're claiming that he's become a different person. Wouldn't it make sense, then, that your previous expressions of trust wouldn't necessarily apply to this new Gourry?"

"Th-that's not what I meant by that. Of course I trust him. Gourry is…" She stopped herself mid-sentence, realizing what she was saying. Carmen gave a knowing smile, and Lina felt an odd feeling, almost akin to a child being scolded by a parent. "...I see. That's what he was saying. Gourry is Gourry. No matter how his behavior might've changed, his identity hasn't."

Carmen nodded. "All the factors that made Gourry who he was are still in play. His grief for his brother and the trauma from his injury both stem from things that shaped him as a person- the love he held for his brother to begin with and his reliance on his physical skills as a definition of self-worth. But those two things alone don't define him completely. Many things about him haven't changed. For instance, his love for you is just as strong as it ever was."

Lina blushed again, scratching her cheek in embarrassment. "You're really perceptive, you know that? You've known us two days, and yet you've got a really good handle on what makes Gourry tick. Do you have all that information on me too?"

Carmen smiled and gave Lina a gentle pat on the shoulder. "You're a little harder to read. Gourry is very childlike in that he's open with his feelings and motivations. He reminds me of Jaime in a lot of ways, so of course I would want to learn about him."

"So what you're saying is, my husband functions on the level of a four-year-old?" Lina asked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no, that's not-"

"Because I think that's giving him too much credit."

There was another pause, this time with Carmen examining Lina to see whether or not she was joking. Once Carmen was sure that it was indeed a joke, she gave a laugh. Lina laughed with her, glad that the tense moment had been broken.

"Thank you, Miss Carmen. I need to apologize to him. What I said wasn't fair, and- much as I hate to admit it- I was the one in the wrong this time."

"From what I've learned about him, the best thing you can offer him right now is your trust and companionship in getting through this. He needs to know you respect his situation and will support him in his recovery without looking down on him for struggling."

Lina closed her eyes and sighed. "Geez, you're good at this. I know you're a healer, but you could definitely go into therapy if you wanted."

"I don't have the education for that. It's all personal experience." Carmen shook her head. "When Zelgadis died, Michael and I were all each other had. We had to see each other through th-"

"Wait.  _Who_?"

Lina didn't mean to interrupt Carmen when she was talking about something so personal. But that was not a common name, and hearing it pop up so far from a familiar context took Lina by surprise.

"O-oh! Sorry." Carmen shook her head. "That was our son's name- Zelgadis. I hadn't said it before, had I?"

"N-no, you hadn't." Lina shook her head. "It's, uh, definitely unique. Is it a family name?"

Carmen laughed. "No, not quite. It's a name that Michael chose. It means ' _lover of the earth_."

"Aha. I see. It's a pretty name, but it's a mouthful. I have a friend by that name, but we just call him 'Zel' most of the time."

The statement caused Carmen to perk up. "You do? I've never heard of anyone else named Zelgadis. Like you said, it isn't common." She closed her eyes and smiled. "My father was a sage who traveled the world studying magic. He said that the name was reminiscent of times long past, of great scholars and artists spoken of in legend. It was fitting; Zelgadis was such a bright boy and always wanted to be like his grandfather when he grew up. Those two were quite a pair. I wish things hadn't turned out the way they did. Those two could've done so much more good for the world…"

Lina fidgeted with her hands. "May I ask what happened to them?"

Carmen answered with a smile, but unlike the ones from earlier, it was clearly forced. "Zelgadis was killed while on a humanitarian mission with my father. The letter telling us that was the last I ever heard from my father as well. According to his assistant, he felt responsible, and didn't know how he would go on without Zelgadis."

"Assistant?" Lina asked.

"Father was blind, so he had to dictate his letters to us. His assistants were usually friends of ours, so they would add comments at the end-"

"Blind?" Lina repeated the word, an air of suspicion in her voice. "A blind sage-"

"Ah, that's right." Carmen blushed. "I forgot, you're a learned sorceress. You must be familiar with Rezo the Red Priest."

"Quite familiar," Lina murmured. "But you're saying that  _you're_ his daughter? Making your son his grandson..."

"Lina? Is everything alright? You look pale-"

Lina shot to her feet, beginning to stammer. "I-I just remembered how long it's been since I left Gourry! He's probably getting worried about me. I should go back."

Carmen pulled herself to her feet as well, taking a step toward Lina with a hand outstretched in concern. "Did I say something wrong? Is it about my father-?"

"No, no!" Lina shook her head. "Seriously, I'm really grateful that you were willing to open up about what happened. I want to talk to you more, but- later. Right now I need to talk to Gourry."

"...yes, of course! You should go ahead."

* * *

The shortcut Lina had taken back to Senagra was clearly meant to be taken one way, as it became too steep to climb easily. She cast a levitation spell and continued on, keeping an eye out for the landmarks she'd seen earlier. The rainstorm had passed and patches of mud had pooled on the dry ground. Some of the mud was already beginning to crack in the midday sun, and Lina did her best to step over these patches when she could. She was expecting to have to return all the way to the cave, but before it came into view, she was stopped by the sound of a dog barking.

Lucan ran up the hill to greet Lina, his tail wagging frantically. He jumped at her a few times, and she held her arms out to keep his paws from hitting her in the stomach.

"Hey, now! Don't jump. That's a good boy. What a good boy. I'm sorry I left so suddenly. Did you miss me? Did you?" Lina was so caught up in giving the dog affectionate scratches on the head and behind the ears, she almost didn't see Gourry running up behind him.

"L-Lina…" Gourry gasped, stopping beside her. She looked up at him, taking her hands away from Lucan. The dog whined, but she ignored him.

"Gourry! Oh man, do I have news for you! You're never gonna believe this-"

He didn't seem to hear her, running immediately to her side and interrupting her with a plea of his own.

"Lina, I'm  _so_ sorry. I never should've said what I said to you. Tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it. I'll work harder to become the person you remember I was, I promise- please,  _please_ , I don't want to lose you."

Her eyes widened at the force behind his words. "Wha-? You actually thought I was serious? Come on, now! I'm not that cruel. We were just yelling stuff at each other like we always do when we fight." Lina ran around and jumped onto his shoulders from the back, grabbing him in a headlock. "If you think you can get rid of me just by asking, you're more of an idiot than I thought!"

Gourry turned his head to look at her, this time with his face right next to hers. She could see even better now the panic in his eyes as it slowly melted away, replaced by hesitant relief… and  _tears_? "Maybe I am an idiot. I was just… so scared…" He reached up to place his hand on the side of her head and pull her in close. "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to leave."

Lina leaned in, pressing her forehead against his, and then slid off his shoulders so that she could walk around to face him straight-on again. "It's not like I'm going to actually…" She stopped as she remembered all that Carmen had said. Lina blushed and pressed a hand to her cheek. "Listen, you're not the one who should apologize. I said some pretty mean stuff to you. I… uh… I was  _wrong_ when I said you'd become a different person. Even if things have changed, you're still the Gourry I know and love, the one who can overcome whatever obstacle he's faced with. I guess I lost sight of that in my worry for you. I'm sorry."

"It's not all your fault. Lately I've been losing my confidence." Gourry shook his head. "But coming here with you, helping people like Miss Carmen- even seeing the cave and remembering my brother- has all helped remind me how lucky I am. I have a long way to go, but as long as you're with me… I think I can make it."

A fond smile passed over Lina's face. She stepped forward so she could throw her arms around his waist and press her head against his chest. "You idiot. Of course you can make it. And I'll be right here with you the whole time."

Lucan barked and jumped up with his paws against Gourry's side, poking his nose in between them. Lina laughed and moved her arm to accept Lucan into the hug. She and Gourry stayed like that for a few long moments, neither wanting to move. But, finally, something tugged at her attention enough to pull her back to reality. There was something that she-

_Oh!_

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lina pulled away again, waving her hands. "We'll have time for these warm fuzzies later. Right now, you've gotta hear this."

"Hear what?"

"So, you know how Carmen and Michael had a son that died a long time back?" Lina began to gesture with her hands as she spoke. "I was talking to Carmen, and, as weird as it sounds, I think he's still alive."

"Their son?"

"Yeah."

Gourry frowned and took a step back. "Lina, I don't like where this is going. I know from experience, you can't just jump to the conclusion that someone is alive without proof. Telling Carmen that her son is alive without knowing for sure would just lead to another disaster like mine-"

"I know!" Lina interrupted. "But this is different. It's  _Zel_."

There was a pause.

"Zel? You mean  _our_ Zel? Like, Zelgadis?"

"Yes!"

"That's not…" Gourry shook his head. "That's not possible. Zelgadis said his parents were dead."

"Yeah, and Carmen said that her son-  _also named Zelgadis_ \- is dead. There's a mutual misunderstanding here." Lina crossed her arms and closed her eyes the way she did when she was thinking out loud. "The most crucial thing is the identity of Carmen's father. She said that she was the daughter of the Red Priest Rezo."

Gourry slapped a hand over his mouth. "You mean, like, THAT Rezo?"

"There is no other 'Red Priest Rezo,' Gourry."

"W-well, yeah, but-"

Lina took a step forward, pointing a finger in his direction. "Think about it. Zelgadis says his parents are dead, killed by his grandfather, Rezo. Carmen says that her father, Rezo, was responsible for the death of her son Zelgadis. There's misinformation being spread on both ends, and it all traces back to Rezo."

"What motivation would he have for separating Zelgadis and his parents, though?" Gourry asked, backing up slightly. "They're both his family, right?"

"It's possible that Rezo wanted Zelgadis to himself for his own experimentation," Lina offered. "It makes sense."

"It's horrible."

"Well of course. But you know better than anyone that just because someone is related to you by blood doesn't mean that they have your best interests at heart."

Gourry's expression darkened, a shadow of melancholy passing over his features. "Are you positive of this? More than anything, I don't want to get Carmen's hopes up."

"I'm not quite positive, no." Lina shook her head, turning around back in the direction of the village. "So I think we should ask her more questions before jumping to any conclusions. Like you said, we don't want to end up with another situation like you and your brother. Why don't we go back to Senagra and chat with her a bit more?"

Gourry pointed to Lina's pack. "What about the map and the whole circumvent-of-the-barrier thing?"

" _Circumference_ ," Lina corrected. "And of course we'll continue with that. But from the looks of it, this barrier isn't going anywhere and it isn't posing any kind of direct threat. Carmen deserves to know the truth about her family, I think. Plus-" She paused and laughed nervously. "-I'm just too curious to keep taking map coordinates with this hanging over my head. You know?"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Gourry started on ahead of Lina. "Let's get back to Senagra."

"Hey! I know a shortcut! Let me lead the way, will you?"

* * *

The two arrived in Senagra within a few minutes, and found it generally the same as when they'd left. Shay greeted them with a friendly wave, and Daisy and Lucan shared a playful tussle before Lina and Gourry continued on toward the hospital tent and Lucan followed obediently behind. Lina knocked on the post and poked her head into the tent flap.

"Is Carmen here?"

Carmen was standing at a back table, mixing something with a mortar and pestle. She turned around at the sound of Lina's voice and a smile crossed her face.

"Oh, you're back already? Come in!"

Lina and Gourry both entered the tent, giving friendly waves to the patients who were resting on the cots. Carmen set the mortar back down on the table and wiped her hands on her apron as she approached them. Lina cleared her throat, not wanting to say too much in front of all these people.

"Um, actually we were wondering if we could speak with you outside. We don't mean to take you from your duties, but…"

One of the patients laughed. "You won't be taking her from much," he assured them. "She's mixing paint pigments, not medicine."

"It's for Michael," Carmen explained with a hint of embarrassment in her voice. "His favorite paints are made from soil pigments from this area. I'd hate for him to come home and have nothing to paint with."

Lina frowned and raised an eyebrow. "You've lost everything and the first thing you're trying to replace is art supplies?"

"Don't be rude, Lina." Gourry tapped her on the back of the head. "If you were an artist you'd understand."

"Hey, watch it! My art is beautiful!"

"...I don't know. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and most people don't really enjoy beholding your work-"

" _Watch what you say, there, buddy-!_ "

Carmen interrupted, stepping between them. "You said you wanted to speak to me outside?"

The reminder brought them both back to reality, and they took a step back, nodding in unison.

"If that's alright," Lina replied.

"Of course it is. Would you like to go back to the square where we were sitting earlier?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan."

The three- plus Lucan- headed back to the village square and found a place to sit near where Carmen and Lina had been before. Lucan, satisfied that the humans had settled down for a while, began to explore the area, sniffing around the low vegetation to see what he could find. Lina watched him for a few seconds as she gathered her thoughts, trying to figure out how to bring up the situation in a tactful manner. This was a very sensitive subject for Carmen, and no matter how much they tried to sugarcoat it, the fact of the matter was that her father had been lying to her for his own evil goals and that was  _not_ going to go over well. They had to ease into the topic slowly-

"So, Ms. Carmen, Lina says that you dad was the Red Priest Rezo. Is that really true?"

Ah, Gourry. For what he lacked in tact, he made up for in enthusiasm, at least.

"Yes, that's right," Carmen answered. "Why? Did you know him? Lina would be familiar with him because of her background as a sorceress, but you…" Her voice trailed off, though the implication was clear and Gourry didn't mind.

"Yeah, I didn't know a thing about him before we met him," Gourry answered. "But after fighting him  _three_  times, I became better acquainted with him."

Carmen frowned. "Fighting him?"

"Well, one time it wasn't exactly him, but a magical clone of him. Then another time it was a revived form of the Demon King that he set free using our friend's body as a host to-"

Lina put her hand on Gourry's arm to cut him off. "Slow down there, buddy. I don't think she's up to speed on the whole Demon King thing."

"The Demon King…" Carmen murmured. She closed her eyes and continued with "...do you mean the evil entity that was feeding on my father's soul?"

Lina's attention shot back to her.

"…you  _knew_?"


	15. Every Mother's Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**15- Every Mother's Son**

"...you knew?"

"To some extent. We were all aware that Father's blindness had a magical cause far beyond normal human blindness. It wasn't that he couldn't see, but that he couldn't open his eyes. He once told me that it felt as though his eyelids were fused shut and he was unable to pry them apart no matter how he tried. When I was older, he confided in me that he believed something terrible was hiding in his eyes, similar to how a parasite hides within its host, and that the sealing of his eyes was his body's defense mechanism against it."

Lina was quiet for a moment, thinking over the statement. It seemed Rezo had fought against the Demon King's influence enough so to shield his daughter from the frightening truth. Either that, or perhaps Shabranigdo was already in control and didn't wish to be discovered. Both options were equally distressing when considering things from Carmen's perspective.

"Yes, that's true," Lina finally replied. "His eyes held within them a fragment of the Demon King Shabranigdo. Opening his eyes would've meant releasing that fragment onto the world. Because of that, Shabranigdo latched onto his desire for sight and drove him to madness trying to open his eyes. The times we fought Rezo, we weren't really fighting  _him_  but the Demon King within him. He just had become too weak to fight Shabranigdo's influence any longer."

Carmen began to fidget with her hands. "I'm sorry. I'm sure that must have been extremely difficult for you. But it's hard for me to think of my father in that way."

"We get it." Gourry reached across Lina and placed a hand over Carmen's hand. "It's awful to imagine someone you love falling prey to Mazoku. But the desires of his heart that the Demon King fed upon were born out of a desire to see the world and the people he loved. So I don't think he was a bad person."

Lina glanced up at him, surprised to hear that sort of analysis coming from Gourry of all people. He might, perhaps, be repeating something Zelgadis or Amelia had once said, but considering his memory, that was a stretch. Was he remembering something  _she'd_ said?

"The thing is, it isn't exactly Rezo that we're here to talk about," Lina broke in.

"It isn't?" Carmen's expression was wary, as if she were afraid to venture further.

"Well… I suppose it is in a way." Lina shook her head. "But only because you have to understand that Rezo was so far corrupted, he was willing to do unspeakable things to the people he loved." She paused and looked over at Carmen. "Has your surname always been Belmonte? I know that Rezo's family name was Greywords, but I assume you took Michael's family name-"

"Michael didn't have a family name," Carmen replied. "He took my name when we first married. But after Zelgadis died, we took a trip away from our village out of grief, as Michael couldn't bear to face the memories attached to the places we had lived. While we were gone, the entire village burned to the ground, and we lost even what little we had left. It was… like a sign, or so Michael said. We decided to start again somewhere new. That's when we came to Senagra and changed our name to Belmonte-  _beautiful mountain_."

Gourry snapped his fingers, his eyes lighting up. "The burned village! That's it! It was named… agh, what was it? Something flowery…"

"Gardenos," Carmen provided.

"Yeah, that was it! That was where Zel said his parents died. He said that he'd found out later that Rezo ordered the fire started to kill them after they'd spoken against him traveling with Rezo."

" _What_?!" Carmen leaned in, seemingly unaware that she was crowding Lina. "This is your friend Zelgadis? But that's impossible-"

"Gourry, you're moving too fast!" Lina placed a hand on Gourry's face and used the other to gently push Carmen's face away from hers. "We have to make it clear from the start. Carmen… we believe that your son Zelgadis and our friend Zelgadis are the same person. That Rezo lied to you about his death in order to take advantage of Zelgadis without you interfering."

"Considering that Rezo seems to have lied to Zelgadis about the same thing, it makes sense," Gourry commented.

Carmen looked back and forth between them frantically. "B-but… take  _advantage_  of him? What does that mean?"

Lina took a deep breath. "Our friend Zelgadis was used by the Red Priest Rezo- his grandfather, mentor, and personal hero- as a test subject in a horrible chimera experiment against his will. He was turned into a frightening amalgamation of creatures and spent many years like that before he was finally able to return to his human form. We befriended him and traveled with him while he was searching for a cure, consumed by his desire to be human again the same way Rezo had been consumed by his desire to see. But thankfully Zelgadis realized what was happening and was able to distance himself from his quest before it consumed him entirely. He came to terms with his hatred over Rezo's betrayal and learned to trust again."

Carmen covered her mouth as she listened, her eyes widening in shock. "...Zelgadis…" she murmured, her voice cracking as she did so. "That can't be. My father wouldn't have… he couldn't have… he loved Zelgadis more than anything…"

Lina gave a slow sigh. "That's what our Zel thought too. It's why Rezo's betrayal hurt him so deeply, and why he was slow to trust in others. When we first met him, he did have some companions who had sided with him when he split with Rezo. Zolf and Rodimus-"

"Uncle Zolf and Rodimus!" Carmen gasped. "What happened to them? If Zelgadis is alive, are they alive too?"

"...unfortunately, no." Lina glanced away. "But they were loyal to Zelgadis right up until the end. We probably have them to thank that we didn't lose Zel entirely to his anger and hatred."

Carmen put her head in her hands, leaning over so that her hair was covering her face. "I-I'm sorry, I just can't fathom all this. You're saying that Zelgadis lived, but that he faced a fate worse even than death? That he thought his parents were dead and Michael and I knew nothing of this? And that all this time, he's been alone and suffering…"

"I wouldn't say suffering, necessarily-" Lina began, though Gourry broke in before she could finish.

"Nah, I'd say that traveling with us definitely counts as suffering."

"Now's not the time to joke, Gourry!"

"I wasn't joking-"

"Lina! Gourry!" Carmen's voice broke through their conversation. "If Zelgadis is alive, I need to see him! I want to believe that what you're saying is true, but it also means that my father lied to me, and that's… difficult to believe. I don't want to tell myself that Zelgadis is alive only to have those hopes dashed, and I  _especially_ don't want Michael to think that Zelgadis is alive and have to grieve for him a second time. It would crush him."

"I know." Gourry reached for her hand and squeezed it. "Believe me, I  _know_."

"We won't ask you to believe us right now. We're only telling you what we know." Lina placed her own hand on top of theirs. "Our friend Zelgadis is a knight of Seyruun, currently doing research in Ruvinigald until his new job at the Seyruun National Archives starts and he can move back to the city to live with his wife. We can get in touch with him easily once our work here in Senagra is finished."

Carmen was quiet for a long moment, glancing away. Lina and Gourry didn't say anything, feeling simultaneously too respectful to interrupt her thoughts and too awkward to speak up.

Finally, the sound of Lucan barking interrupted their thought processes. A low chattering noise accompanied him, and all three of the humans turned to look at what was going on. Lucan was pawing at a dug-out mound in the middle of the square, and Carmen began to laugh despite herself.

"Oh, I think he found the entrance to a marmot burrow. Sorry, boy. Those marmots are tricky little devils!"

Gourry stood up and approached the burrow, placing a hand on the scruff of Lucan's neck to calm him down. "Hey, buddy, that's not the way to do it. If you want a marmot dinner, you've gotta bait them with a trap and berries of some kind. That's the way we did it back in Elmekia."

Lina couldn't help a smile. While she wanted to keep watching Gourry and Lucan play, she turned back to Carmen to make sure the conversation hadn't been left on a sour note.

"Thank you for opening up to us about this. I know it's very personal, but I didn't want to lead you on with false hopes if we didn't have sufficient information."

"No need to thank me." Carmen shook her head. "It's been so long, I guess I've become numb to it in a lot of ways. Having to support Michael… I don't regret anything, but I think I didn't get the chance to grieve as thoroughly as I needed to."

"It's hard to be the strong one in a situation like that," Lina commented. "I mean, not that I'd know, but-"

"Well, you've been supporting Gourry all this time. I think you know pretty well."

Lina looked away. "W-well, that's different. Kent wasn't  _my_ brother. But thank you for saying so."

The two were quiet again as they turned to watch Gourry and Lucan. But the scene didn't last long before rescue team director approached the square and started to wave, calling out Lina's name.

Lina stood up, waving back. "Hey! What's going on-"

"What are you doing here? I thought that you and Gourry were out surveying the barrier."

"W-we were!" Lina answered, waving her hands. "We just, uh, ran into a snag and had to come back to get some information from Carmen. We'll get right back to work, I promise-"

"No, it's not that. You're fine," the woman answered. "It's just that… we heard an explosion in the area of the mine and thought at first it might have been you."

"An explosion?" Carmen jumped to her feet as well. "What kind of explosion? It's not something that could trigger another landslide, is it?"

"No, this isn't powerful enough. It was supposedly a magical explosion. But if it isn't Lina, I don't know who it could be. We don't have anyone in that area."

Lina frowned, glancing down at the ground as she thought it over. "I wonder if it's someone involved with AVA. There was activity going on in the mine last night, but we assumed that was because they were working at night to avoid detection. If there's been a sudden surge of activity, there must be a reason." She stopped and looked over at Gourry. "Hey! Quit bothering the marmots and get over here! We need to go back and look at the barrier. If something's going on at the mine, we've gotta find a way around it."

Gourry looked up from his position examining the burrow entrance and gave a salute in Lina's direction. "Aye-aye, Lina!"

"I'll come with you," Carmen volunteered. "You should have someone with you who knows the area."

"Sounds like a plan." Lina nodded and turned back to the team director. "We'll find out what's going on, don't worry. Whatever it takes, we'll keep the people of Senagra safe. In the meantime, you should send a message up to the Botanical Institute. We've got a friend over there whose help we could use." She grinned as she continued. "And I'm sure she could use the excitement."

* * *

Jaime was not the only refugee who had gotten sick, but he was one of the few children who had come to the Seyruun Botanical Institute, and so the adults of the group fawned over him moreso than anyone else. It wasn't just Amelia and Zelgadis who were caring for him- once those from Senagra heard that Jaime was feeling ill, they banded together to do what they could for him. Amelia joked that Jaime seemed to be the whole village's child. Zelgadis agreed, citing the old adage that ' _it takes a village to raise a child_.'

But despite that, he seemed reluctant to give up Jaime's care to others.

Both Pickles and Tubbs picked up on Jaime's lack of energy and gathered around him. Tubbs curled up next to him, while Pickles brought him toys and cat treats as though he were nothing more than a large fellow kitten. Zelgadis stayed close and watched, prepared to step in if Jaime's condition worsened. But as the day wore on, he saw that there was no need to worry. By noon, Jaime's fever had gone down, and he even had enough energy to take a walk through the courtyard. Still, he didn't stray too far from Zelgadis' side.

After a late lunch, in which Jaime's appetite seemed to be returning, an elderly couple from Senagra took over looking after Jaime while Zelgadis met with Dr. Wilson to finalize the authorization on their specimens. Zelgadis returned to find Jaime crying, and the woman helplessly trying to calm him.

" _I don't wanna sleep! I want Nii-nii!_ "

"Jaime?"

Zelgadis' voice broke through the boy's cries, and he looked up with a gasp. The old woman let go, and Jaime staggered to his feet so that he could rush to Zelgadis' side.

"I don't wanna go to sleep! I'm not sleepy!"

Zelgadis bent down next to him. "Are you sure? Your voice sounds rather sleepy to me."

"I'm tellin' you, I'm not! Not, not-" Jaime's tantrum was interrupted by a big yawn, and he covered his mouth, his eyes wide. "N-not."

Zelgadis scooped up Jaime in his arms and carried the boy back over to the cushions where the couple was sitting. "How about this? I won't make you sleep, but I want you to at least lie down. Your hair is a mess. Let me brush it for you, okay?"

"...okay…"

The couple smiled at the sound of Jaime's reluctant agreement, both knowing what Zelgadis was up to. Within a few minutes, Zelgadis had Jaime curled up comfortably in his lap, the boy's eyes struggling to remain open as Zelgadis ran a brush through his ruddy locks.

"Nii-nii…" Jaime finally spoke up, his voice almost a whisper. "...tell me a story."

"Oh?" Zelgadis smiled at the request. "Would you let me sing you a song instead?"

"...nnn… I want a story…"

"It's a story in a song."

That statement was enough to make Jaime relent. He sighed and sank back against Zelgadis' chest. "...okay…"

The song was one that Zelgadis' own mother had sung to him when he was young, so it was one that was deeply rooted in his mind. It  _was_ a lullaby, of course, but Jaime didn't necessarily have to know that.

" _There is a place deep in the forest where the trees grow very tall. I never thought that I could climb them, 'til you taught me not to think small…"_

The song did a more thorough job than Zelgadis had expected it to, with Jaime's body completely relaxing by the first line. By the time that Zelgadis reached the third verse, Jaime's body language showed that he was completely asleep, his breathing having slowed and his weight resting fully against Zelgadis. Zel allowed his voice to trail off, keeping one arm wrapped around Jaime to support him.

Once the woman was sure Zelgadis had stopped singing, she scooted closer to speak with him.

"Where did you learn that lullaby?" she asked, whispering the question so as not to disturb Jaime. "I mean, how'd you know that's the one that Carmen always sings to him?"

"Huh?" Zelgadis stared at her, trying to understand the combination of questions. "I didn't… this is one my mother used to sing to me. Carmen, you said? Is that Jaime's mother?"

"Yes. Carmen Belmonte."

"That's interesting," Zelgadis whispered back, looking back down at Jaime. "My mother's name was Carmen as well. But it  _is_ a common name. I just didn't realize the song was common too." He turned his attention back to the woman. "You all care so much for Jaime, I'm sure his parents appreciate the help."

She laughed softly. "I think it's only natural. Senagra was an aging population before Carmen and Michael moved in. Not only did they bring the passion of young adults into the village, but then they had Jaime. Having a little child running around was such a pleasure for everyone, we couldn't help falling in love with him."

"...Michael…" Zelgadis murmured. "I'm sorry, that's-"

"Jaime's father?"

"Yes, but…" Zelgadis stopped and shook his head. "Sorry, the name is familiar. I don't mean to ask too much about his parents."

"No, it's fine. Certainly, if he's taken a liking to you, you'll want to know his family." The woman shook her head, offering Zelgadis a comforting smile. "I wonder if it's the fact that you look so much like Michael, Jaime can't help but see his father in you."

"I do?" Zelgadis shifted Jaime in his lap so that his head was better supported. "Someone mistook me for Jaime's father yesterday, but when I asked Jaime if we looked similar, he said no."

"Maybe not superficially. But you have that same face shape, same eyes, same hair color-"

"Is that so?" Zelgadis interrupted. "I suppose Jaime hasn't developed the analysis needed to identify those sorts of similarities yet, so he can't say specifically  _why_ he's so drawn to me." It made sense, in a way, but in others it didn't. If Jaime was subconsciously attracted to the qualities about Zelgadis that were similar to his father, why address Zelgadis as a  _brother_? Zelgadis was old enough to be Jaime's father. But a brother? No matter how he looked at it, it didn't make sense, so he changed the subject before he could get too bogged down. "I'm curious though- what brought Jaime's parents to Senagra? You said it was rare for a young couple to move in, right?"

The woman nodded, and her husband leaned in to add to the conversation.

"It was… gosh, was it already ten years ago?"

"Yes, I believe it was."

"That's amazing. And yet I can barely remember what it was like before Jaime was born. Am I losing it?"

The woman chuckled and patted her husband's shoulder. "It's not that. They were so quiet for the first couple of years. Michael was wrapped up in his art, and Carmen focused on studying with Mrs. Hawthorne-"

"So Michael  _is_  an artist," Zelgadis murmured. "What was Carmen studying?"

"Medicine," the man answered. "Well, it was more like she was studying the village's medical records to take over for Mrs. Hawthorne when she retired. She was already a wonderfully talented doctor."

"Was she, now?" Zelgadis closed his eyes, finding himself thinking out loud. "Ten years ago… that was almost the same time as the fire at Gardenos… but it couldn't be…" He stopped and shook his head. "Do you know where they lived before they moved to Senagra?"

Both members of the couple shook their head.

"I think they must have gone through something difficult before they came. Michael's paintings were so dark and devoid of color before Jaime came along."

" _Hmph_. You're looking too much into it, sweetie. He was just adapting to the environment."

"Not true! Michael is a sensitive, introspective man. Of course his art would reflect his emotional state-"

"If I may," Zelgadis spoke up, "I did know a couple by the names Carmen and Michael, but their village was destroyed about eleven years ago by a catastrophic fire. They had a different surname, so I can't say they're the same people, but every other aspect seems to fit… I just assumed they died in the fire, but now I wonder if they might have survived."

The woman gasped. "You're kidding."

"I'm not. But that couple also had another child at the time. The math works out, so it's not  _impossible_ for them to have had Jaime, but I don't know what might've happened to their first child, or why they would've waited so long to have another."

"Oh no. You don't think they lost their first child in the fire, do you?" The woman covered her mouth. "I think Mrs. Hawthorne said they had been trying for several years before Jaime was born-" She broke off. "Sorry, perhaps that's too much for me to say. I just know that Jaime is  _very_ dear to his parents."

Zelgadis opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off as the man opposite him tapped him on the shoulder and pointed over to the side. He turned to look and saw Amelia poking her head into the doorway, motioning for him. Zelgadis pointed to himself in a silent, questioning tone, and she nodded her head in approval. He sighed, offered her a " _wait_ " motion, and turned his attention down to Jaime as he tried to figure out how to move the boy without waking him.

Unfortunately, Jaime's sleep wasn't very deep. He began to stir as Zelgadis placed him onto the cushions, and let out a whine, grabbing tightly onto Zelgadis' shirt.

"...where are you going? Don't leave me."

"Shh. It's okay. I'm just stepping out to talk to Amelia," Zelgadis assured him.

"...Daddy said… you're always there for me, watching over me… even if I can't see you… but please Nii-nii… Zelgadis… I don' wanna be alone... "

Zelgadis felt his stomach churn. It was the  _name_. Jaime had latched onto him when he'd heard the name. It was because Jaime had been toldhe had a brother named Zelgadis, invisibly watching over him like a guardian angel. And suddenly when he'd lost everything, that angelic brother had appeared in front of him. Jaime was too young to fully understand the concept of death- his parents hadn't told him that his brother had  _died_. So when Zelgadis arrived, it made perfect sense to the boy.

He'd known they were family before Zelgadis had even begun to fathom the possibility.

"I'll be right back. I won't leave you, I promise," Zelgadis whispered before standing up and making his way around the corner to where Amelia was waiting. "You wanted to see me?" he asked, stepping in close. He hadn't seen her for most of the afternoon, and with the sudden emotional turmoil of his situation, he couldn't help leaning in for a kiss. But Amelia stopped him before he could get close.

"We received a distress call from Senagra," she said, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. "They need us to help investigate some unusual activity in the mine area."

Zelgadis stepped back, embarrassed that he'd attempted and failed such a sudden display of affection. "Aren't Lina and Gourry there? They can handle it."

"The director wanted back-up for them. Lina and Gourry have some suspicions about the mining operation that, if true, could make it dangerous for people to approach the area. Lina specifically requested that I come to help out."

"...Amelia, I…" Zelgadis glanced back and forth between her and the doorway he'd just come through. "I can't leave Jaime right now."

"There are plenty of people looking after him right now, aren't there?" Amelia asked. "You can take some time away. They'll understand-"

"No, it's not that! The thing is…" Zelgadis choked on his words, feeling the sudden reality of the situation as he voiced it out loud. "...Jaime is my brother."

Amelia frowned. "I know I told you to act like his brother while he's here, but this is an emergency situation. I'm glad that you've grown fond of him, but I'm not going to restrict you to-"

"No, no!" Zelgadis shook his head frantically, placing his hands on Amelia's arms to quiet her. "I'm serious. I don't understand exactly how, or why I never knew, but… my parents are alive and Jaime is my  _brother_."


	16. Breaking New Ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone. I'm back from my spring semester hiatus, your same tired writer, but Now With A Bachelor's Degree™. (Does that mean I'm officially a bachelor now? I think my girlfriend might have an objection or two...) As always, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**16- Breaking New Ground**

Zelgadis shook his head frantically, placing his hands on Amelia's arms to quiet her. "I don't understand exactly how, or why I was lied to, but… my parents are alive and Jaime is my  _brother_."

Amelia was quiet for a moment, her mouth hanging open. She stayed still, almost waiting for something else, but Zelgadis didn't have anything else. He was a little too overcome to say anything else.

"...I don't understand…"

"I don't really understand it either. I thought that my parents died in the fire of Gardenos. But the descriptions of Jaime's parents are too familiar to be a coincidence. They have the same first names, the same occupations- his father even has the same physical description and personality. And they moved to Senagra very shortly after they supposedly died in Gardenos. Besides that, Jaime recognized me by my name and immediately started treating me like his older brother. Maybe one of these coincidences by themselves would be possible, but all of these together?"

Amelia closed her eyes and shook her head. "But a lot of things don't add up. The surname, for instance; why would they have changed it? And if they were alive all this time, why didn't they contact you? Why haven't they been searching for you? Doctor Wilson told me that Rezo attempted to kill them to prevent them from getting in between the two of you. Surely they would have gone after you-"

Zelgadis cut her off, finishing the sentence for her. "-unless Rezo lied to them about me. What if he told them  _I_ was dead to get them off his back?"

"Would he do that?"

"Rezo would have done anything." Zelgadis frowned and glanced away. "Whatever happened, the villagers in Senagra said that Jaime's parents seemed to have moved there from a tragic situation. Of course there was the destruction of Gardenos to consider, but the fact that they didn't search for me or even try to contact me makes me wonder…"

Zelgadis had allowed a little more melancholy into his voice than he generally would, and Amelia seemed to pick up on it. She reached over and placed a hand on his arm, stepping closer.

"I know what it's like to be left behind by an older sibling. I know you want to stay by Jaime's side when he's feeling sick. But you're not leaving him forever, and  _we_  need you. Miss Lina expressed worry that the mine activity could further destabilize the slope that created the landslide in the first place, and she needs all the help she can get. You know that Mister Gourry is having a hard time right now. I know having you there to back him up would boost his confidence."

Zelgadis frowned, clenching his fists. Amelia knew him too well, knowing that a logical appeal would sway him. He was trying desperately to find an equally logical solution that would benefit Jaime as well, but it wasn't easy. The best thing for Jaime really would be to stay somewhere safe. But those damned emotions just refused to back down.

"...We're going to Senagra first in order to meet up with the search and rescue crew, right?" Zelgadis finally asked. "Let me take Jaime with me that far."

"Zelgadis, that's not-"

"I  _know_. But if I can't be with Jaime, the next best thing for him would be his parents. And there's a good chance that his- that  _our_ parents are waiting for him in Senagra. Let me take him there. I wouldn't feel right leaving him any other way."

There was another long moment of silence. Amelia relaxed, letting out a sigh, and then jumped to attention once again.

"Alright!" she responded with a smile. "If that's what you've decided, then I'm all for it! Let's get Jaime back to his- back to  _your_  parents and keep their village safe from further damage."

Zelgadis could feel his expression soften in relief. "Amelia…"

"In the meantime, I'll be  _your_ bodyguard. And if anyone or anything tries to hurt my little brother-in-law-" She pounded her fist into her other hand. "-I'll pound them into dust! Sound good?"

Zelgadis covered his mouth with one hand. It was a knee-jerk gesture; he knew he wasn't totally hiding his smile. Amelia had told him before that she could see it in his eyes even when he wore his mask. But nonetheless, he couldn't help it. "...thank you, Amelia, for understanding."

She approached him, tugging his hand away from his mouth so that she could return his earlier attempt at a kiss. "Thank  _you_. I've been so worried and frustrated this whole time, I forgot that my whole purpose for coming here was to help people. And ignoring Jaime's sense of personal safety would be undermining that purpose. I'll go get our things together, and you see what you can do for Jaime."

"Yes." Zelgadis nodded. "I will."

Zelgadis returned to find Jaime clinging to the woman they'd been speaking to before. He had been watching the door the whole time, it seemed, and as soon as Zelgadis appeared from the hallway, his eyes lit up.

"Nii-nii, what's going on?"

Zelgadis knelt down beside him, and Jaime moved to cling to his side. "I have to go to Senagra. My best friends are there and they need my help."

"If you're goin', I wan'a go too!"

"I assumed so. If you want to come with me, I'll take you right to your mom and dad." Zelgadis reached down and placed a hand against Jaime's cheek. "But you have to promise to stay close. And once you're with your parents again, you have to let me go do my job. Okay?"

Jaime nodded his head vigorously. "Kay, 'kay!"

"Are you sure about this, Sir?" The man who was sitting nearby spoke up. "It'll be dark by the time you get to Senagra, and Jaime still has a low fever."

"Don't worry," Zelgadis assured him. "Amelia and I won't let anything happen to Jaime."

The man sighed, and his wife leaned over to place her hand on Jaime's shoulder. "Are you sure you aren't fine staying here with us? You know us. We'll keep you safe."

Jaime inched closer to Zelgadis. "...I wan' Nii-nii and Mommy and Daddy."

"I'm sorry." Zelgadis offered an apologetic smile. "Children his age tend to have separation anxiety-"

"No need to explain. We understand this is a difficult situation. I'm just happy that Jaime feels comfortable with you. He's lucky to have found you."

Zelgadis rose to his feet again, shifting Jaime's weight so that the boy was sitting comfortably in his arms.

"Believe me,  _he's_ not the lucky one."

* * *

Lina led the way back up the mountain trail, followed closely by Gourry and Carmen and somewhat more loosely by Lucan, who was still sniffing around for marmots. She stopped once she reached the nearest edge of the barrier, recognizing the landmarks indicating the first spot she'd marked on the map.

"Here it is," Lina spoke, placing her hand against the barrier. It wasn't armed, as she'd found, just a solid wall of energy. She reached into her pack and dug out the map that she'd been using, along with a compass. "I don't have nearly the number of reference points that I wanted, but I should still be able to get close enough to the center to destabilize the barrier itself."

"How do we do that?" Gourry asked. "What makes the center so important?"

"The center is the position where the spell is anchored," Carmen replied. "If Lina can use an earth spell to destabilize the anchor, the spell will collapse."

"...ah." Gourry's response was short, with only the nod he gave when he didn't quite understand something but was willing to follow along anyway. "So all you've gotta do is use the points on the map to draw a circle, right?"

"Yeah, but doing it freehand introduces too much error without enough location data." Lina had sat down on the ground, already tracing over the map with her pencil. "You need enough points to draw it accurately. We don't quite have that, unfortunately, but we can probably still calculate it mathematically using compass geometry and inverse points."

Gourry's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Ugh, that sounds like the  _worst_."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, math is terrible. Now give me quiet here so I can concentrate."

Her light-hearted response was enough to shut Gourry up, and he closed his mouth, content to watch her as she drew circles with the compass on the map. Eventually, when he thought she'd drawn far too many circles to be getting anywhere, she set the compass down and grinned.

"Bingo. It's 3.2 kilometers away from us at 12 degrees east of north… give or take a few meters and maybe a degree. That's a small enough error margin for my spell."

"Can your spell get through the barrier?" Gourry asked, stepping closer. He picked up the map and scrutinized it, but there was so much drawn on it now that he didn't have the slightest idea where they were or where the barrier was located.

"Not aboveground," Lina answered, kneeling down to place her hand on the rocky ground below, "since it blocks the transport of energy through the atmosphere. But it can't prevent energy from being transmitted through solids. Which is why this is the perfect spell for the job.  _Earth below me, submit to my will! DUG HAUT!_ "

The ground began to shake for a moment, and Carmen had to grab Gourry's arm to maintain her balance. Stone spires shooting from the ground became suddenly visible over the next ridge, and there was a crashing sound similar to breaking glass. Lina stood up, dusted off her hands, and stepped forward through the point where the barrier had once been.

"Ta-dah! Now that's how you break a barrier! Who wants to show that to those twerps from my Sorcerer's Guild class who demanded to know where they'd use geometry in their everyday lives?"

Carmen giggled and joined Lina. "Perhaps we should investigate first? We'll worry about your former students later."

Gourry glanced behind them and whistled for Lucan, who came running at the sound. Satisfied that the dog was following them, he hurried after Lina and Carmen so as not to get left behind. "Lina, how much time do we have? Like, how long will it take the people who put the barrier up to notice it's down and make a new one?"

"Eh, they may notice it right away, but it's not like they can do anything about it. We don't need to worry."

Carmen nodded in agreement. "The creation of a barrier like that is proportional to the area being protected. According to Lina's calculations, it had a diameter of over six kilometers."

"Is that big?"

"It's  _enormous_ ," Lina replied from up front, turning her head just enough so that he could hear. "Most of the time these barriers are made to encompass a small structure or maybe a building. Not…" She shook her head. "...not a two-kilometer hole in the ground. Even I couldn't make a barrier that size by myself."

"It must be a large group working together," Carmen commented. "AVA clearly has some powerful workers under its employment."

Lina shook her head. "We won't know for sure that it's AVA until we get a good look. I say let's head up to the pit itself. This way."

Gourry caught up to the two of them, smiling at Carmen and Lina in turn.

"Lead the way, Lina. We're right behind you."

* * *

Adelaide and Pokota reached the spot on the mountain pass where the barrier had been, stopping to examine their surroundings.

"Michael shouldn't have been able to get any further than this," Pokota murmured, glancing around with a sense of unease. "We should've run into him by now."

Adelaide narrowed her eyes and stepped forward, past the point where the barrier had been the last time they'd visited. Sure enough, she could step past with no trouble. "And we should've run into the barrier by now too. But it's gone- and I'm sure Michael has figured that out too."

Pokota scurried over to Adelaide's side, his ears perked up. "No way! Do you think AVA took the barrier down?"

"I can't imagine why they would, after what Mrs. Morue said." Adelaide shook her head and propped her arm up for Pokota to leap up and land on. "Someone must have broken it… but that someone would have to be extremely knowledgeable about the kind of barrier it was and powerful enough to apply that knowledge into a counterattack-"

She stopped abruptly, her gaze and Pokota's meeting. If the letter they'd read earlier was true, then it sounded like they already had their culprit.

" _Lina,_ " they both said in unison.

"But!" Pokota stood up straighter, scrambling up to Adelaide's shoulder. "Lina wouldn't go to all that trouble if she didn't have a reason to get into the mine. Something dangerous might be going on there, and if that's the case, Michael is in even more danger than before."

Adelaide responded with just a nod, starting off down the path in a run. It almost threw Pokota off, and he latched onto her sleeve so that he didn't slip.

"I-I'll fly ahead and see if I can see any sign of Michael," he offered, stumbling back up to use her shoulder as a jumping-off point.

As he took to the air, he noticed that the path took a turn down the hill and around a ridgeline as it moved to accommodate the mine property. Pokota flew higher so that he could get a better view over the ridge and gasped once he caught sight of the other side. At the bottom of that ridge was a pile of rock debris that seemed to have fallen down the side, and Pokota could clearly see a human figure moving slowly amongst the stones.

" _Adelaide!_ "

Upon hearing his voice, she ran with a burst of speed to catch up to where he was landing. "What is it? Do you see him?"

"I think it's him. It's somebody, at least- and they're hurt!"

The air was growing cooler as the sun approached the horizon, and Adelaide could feel a chill against her arms as she picked up speed. Insects were starting to buzz, and the waning light glinted off the landscape, emphasizing just how much time had passed since they'd seen Michael that morning. Not only did Michael have abdominal injuries, a fever, and impaired vision, but he was far outside the city and it was getting dark. The later it got, the more difficult it would be to help him and get him back to safety.

_Michael, why would you run off like this…? You promised!_

Pokota hovered over the ridge, glancing down the side. Once he was sure that Adelaide knew where to go, he continued down the slope following the rockslide's path. Adelaide arrived and peered over the ridge, mentally constructing a safe path for her to climb down. It looked more dangerous than she preferred to risk, so she cast a levitation spell and floated her way down.

Michael didn't look to be in bad shape, having landed on a relatively soft patch of sand, but he was feverish and clearly delirious. Pokota's presence didn't seem to faze him, and he barely looked up when Adelaide landed in front of him.

"Michael? What do you think you're doing out here?!"

His eyes were cloudy, and he stared at her silently for a few seconds before he could speak up.

"...where'd you come from?"

"I came from Taforashia, same as you." Adelaide knelt down beside him and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "I knew it! Your face is all red- you're burning up."

"...I'm fine…" Michael murmured. "...Jaime is the one… he's gonna… take…"

"Take?" Pokota landed beside him, casting a weakened ice spell on one of his ears and pressing it against Michael's cheek. Michael jumped a bit at first, but soon leaned into the cool touch. "Who's going to take Jaime?"

"...Rezo… is gonna take him… just like Zelgadis… he's going to take… Jaime…"

Pokota's eyes widened and Adelaide's face paled. They glanced at one another, the only sound between them the drone of insects and the slow, pained breathing coming from Michael.

"Rezo?" Adelaide repeated. "As in, Rezo the Red Priest?" Associated with the name Zelgadis, she couldn't imagine it being anyone else, but she had to ask. The idea that Michael was somehow involved with the Greywords family-  _her_ family- seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"...I saw him…" Michael's murmuring was growing less coherent as he continued. "...he's gonna take Jaime… he has Zelgadis and now he wants Jaime too… I c-can't… I can't lose another…"

"Calm down, Michael," Pokota interrupted. "Your fever is getting worse. Did you take the antibiotics that the nurse gave you?"

"...the…" Michael paused. "...I don't… think…"

"We need to get you back to the hospital." Adelaide took one of Michael's arms and slung it over her shoulder. "Once we get there, we can talk about Rezo and Zelgadis-"

"No, no!" Michael tugged weakly, trying to break from her grip. "W-we can't! Jaime is… is…"

"I already told you, we're sure he's fine. And the Red Priest Rezo has been dead for years. Of all the threats to Jaime's safety, he isn't one."

"...but he…" Michael continued to protest as Adelaide stood up and cast another levitation spell, but he was too weak to actually pull himself free. Adelaide landed steadily on the path along the ridge, examining her surroundings.

"I wish we could take you to Senagra, but we're too far, and I don't know if they'll have the medical supplies that you need," Adelaide told him. "We're going back to Taforashia."

"B-but the barrier… is finally…"

"If the barrier has been taken down, it had to have been done for a reason." Pokota hopped up and perched on Michael's shoulder. "We could be in grave danger on mine property like this."

"...but…"

Michael tried to protest, but he didn't have the energy to continue. He sighed and allowed Adelaide to support his weight as she walked him back.

Pokota and Adelaide were both silent as they walked, neither one sure of what to say. They were filled with an odd mix of relief and fear- relief for Michael's safety, but fear over the potential implications of the barrier's disappearance.

As they rounded the corner around the side of the upper ridge, they caught sight of a group farther along the path. Adelaide froze and Pokota blundered into the back of her head.

"What are you-?" He began, but stopped as she  _shushed_ him, grabbing him with her free hand and pulling him behind the ridge.

"It's Mrs. Morue and Holly! Some Mazoku has cornered them."

"It has?" Pokota peeked over the edge of the rock, staring down at the group along the pathway. "-agh! Now what? We can't risk putting Michael in danger… but we can't just leave them there either."

Adelaide set Michael against the rock face, taking a moment to make sure he was properly supported, and then headed back toward the path. "You stay here with Michael," she instructed, "and I'll see if I can get a sneak attack in on that Mazoku-"

" _Hey!_ " Pokota grabbed the back of her brad and tugged on it. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not big enough to move an injured man with the care he needs.  _I'll_ attack the Mazoku and  _you_ stay with Michael-"

"Your spells are too destructive! This calls for a White Magic expert, so we don't accidentally hurt Holly and her mom."

"I can use White Magic too, you know!"

"Yeah, but you-!" Adelaide started again, but her argument died halfway through. She took a step back and clenched a fist, staring down at her feet. "No… this is exactly what your dad was talking about. We can't work together as a team if we're both trying to play the hero. My size and healing abilities make me the one who should be caring for Michael. We'll stay out of the way while you de-fuse the situation down there."

Pokota's expression softened and he nodded his head. "Thanks, Adelaide. I'll try to end this quick, so we can get out of here safely."

"Good luck-"

She didn't even get far enough to finish her well-wishes. There was a high-pitched sound followed by an explosion that rocked the stone around them. A scream rang out, and the reason for the explosion was suddenly clear: Michael was sitting along the edge of the ridge, peeking out at the path below.

He'd been spotted.


	17. No I In Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

 

**17- No "I" In "Team"**

Michael had ducked behind the rock wall as the shot flew past, striking the ground where he'd just been sitting. He tried to stagger to his feet, but almost fell over, and Adelaide had to pick him back up.

" _No!_  You idiot! You're going to get yourself killed!"

" _WINDY SHIELD!"_ Pokota yelled, putting up a protective barrier just before another shot hit the ridge and produced a rain of debris. He scurried up the rockside and over the ridge, taking only a split second to locate the Mazoku and aim. " _By the light of purity I possess… MEGIDO FLARE!_ "

The Mazoku was humanoid but not entirely solid, existing as more of an ethereal black shadow than anything else. It disappeared from view in order to dodge the attack and suddenly reappeared behind Pokota. He heard the distinct sound of an appearance from the astral plane and twisted around, but he wasn't fast enough. A pulse of dark energy blasted him away, sending him careening down the cliff side. He dizzily observed the base of the pass flying up to meet him, but while he braced himself for an impact, he found himself caught instead.

"Prince Stuffed-animal!"

It was Holly's voice, and Pokota looked up to see her face looking down at him. She hugged him close and stepped back, allowing her mother to stand between them and the Mazoku. Lydia's arms were outstretched and her expression was firm.

"Stop this! AVA has no reason to attack innocent bystanders!"

"On the contrary," the Mazoku's raspy voice spoke back, "that man made the first strike by destabilizing AVA's barrier in order to trespass on private property."

"It wasn't him!" Pokota yelled. "He's not a sorcerer, and he's hurt on top of that! There's no way he could've been the one to break the barrier!"

"You say that, and yet you cannot deny that he was at the mine last night demanding passage onto AVA's land. That's motive enough to incriminate him."

"But he almost  _died_  last night-"

Pokota was having trouble making the Mazoku see reason, but he didn't know what else to do. He started again, but his sentence was cut off by an exclamation from Mrs. Morue.

" _Then why not let us leave?_!"

There was a brief moment of silence before the Mazoku finally disappeared from view, reappearing in front of Mrs. Morue. It didn't speak, waiting for her to continue, and so she did with a lower voice.

"...we only want to see him safely back to Taforashia. You can escort us, if it suits you. But please, I'm asking you as a resources manager… do  _not_ add more violence to AVA's record. The people of Taforashia are already aware from last night's events that AVA is willing to hurt civilians, and they're not happy about it."

The Mazoku leaned in close to Lydia's face. Holly's grip on Pokota tightened, and he held out one ear to keep her from getting any closer.

"That is just an excuse for you to distract me. How do I know that human will not have colleagues sneak in the same way while I am otherwise occupied?"

"Surely AVA has more guards that can monitor the periphery while you escort us-"

" _AVA_  is stretched thin due to this human's bold destruction of the barrier we so painstakingly set up! We do not have extraneous resources to expend escorting pesky humans when we can simply dispose of them."

Lydia flinched, preparing to argue again, but she was cut off.

"Stretched thin, huh? Interesting you'd let that information slip to someone you seem to consider your enemy."

It was Adelaide's voice, and the Mazoku turned with Pokota and the others to see her standing opposite them on the path, Michael still standing propped up on her shoulder.

" _Lady Adelaide._ " The Mazoku's voice was low and had an undertone of spite. "I've heard tell of your exploits, but I didn't think you'd be this much of a thorn in our side."

"The same as I was when you worked for Abaddon," Adelaide responded, "right?"

Holly murmured the name 'Abaddon' in question, but Pokota urged her to be quiet and she complied. The Mazoku was talking again, and he didn't want to miss what it was saying.

"I'll admit, I wasn't sure you'd made the connection. AVA remains the last of Abaddon's strongholds only because it distanced itself far enough from the sect to pass as its own entity. What tipped you off?"

"You mean, other than your complete disregard for the safety of everyone affected by the mine's activities?" Adelaide spat in reply. "I could tell from the public records that AVA endured major difficulties about six months ago, the same time that Abaddon's experimentation in Lyzeille was interrupted."

"I see. And you couldn't accept that as a coincidence?"

"Not with everything else." Adelaide shook her head. "But the clincher was realizing the source of the Senagra landslide. When the seismologists in Taforashia said that the source of the disturbance was unnatural, I thought perhaps that it was an attack from an outside agency. But then I found out that AVA is actually profiting off of the situation and it all clicked. You've grown impatient mining the sparse copper veins. With resources dwindling, you've turned your attention to the copper-rich sulfide layer that was deposited at the site of an ancient water table beneath the veins. You're going after the  _chalcocite_."

Pokota gasped. " _Oh!_  That's it! The explosions aren't to damage the mine, but to uncover a copper-rich ore deeper underground."

"But what I still don't get-" Adelaide continued, "-is what AVA needs all that copper for. What are you doing with it?"

The Mazoku replied, and the sound of its voice suggested a smile. "If we're successful, you'll find out soon."

"You-"

Mrs. Morue stepped in front of Adelaide, cutting her off. "With AVA's success in mind, will you please let us return to Taforashia? We mean no harm, we promise."

There was a tense pause, and the Mazoku finally let out what sounded like a sigh.

"Perhaps I will, then. But only if I can be sure you'll keep your promise."

"What do you-?"

Pokota began to ask, but he didn't get that far before the Mazoku disappeared. It reappeared near Adelaide, standing behind Holly and swooping down before anyone could step in. Holly screamed and flailed, and the sound of her scream prompted Michael to scream as well.

" _JAIME_!"

Perhaps it was the fact that he was delirious from fever, or perhaps Holly's childish scream really did sound like one of Jaime's, but whatever the reason, he let go of Adelaide and leapt to Holly's side. By the time the Mazoku disappeared, both Holly and Michael were clinging to it. All three disappeared, leaving behind nothing but silence.

Lydia screamed, grasping at the space where Holly had been as though she were somehow still there and was simply invisible. But no, there was nothing, and Lydia fell to the ground, staring at the bare rock beneath her.

"...no, no… Holly…  _Holly_ …"

Adelaide grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back to her feet. "Calm down! It took her as a hostage, meaning it's not going to hurt her unless we do something stupid. We have to think about this rationally."

"B-but it… but she…" Lydia stammered.

"I'll bet it took them to the mine," Pokota began again. "With the barrier taken down, we should be able to access the open pit area. We can't leave either of them to face the Mazoku on their own- I say we make a beeline for the mine and work out a plan as we go."

Adelaide frowned. "I don't like the idea of making things up as we go, but-"

"What are you talking about? That's what we've always done." Pokota hovered over next to her and extended a hand. "There are people counting on us. We can't afford to wait around and plan out every step. I know you're trying not to be hot-headed, but there are times when the ability to think quickly and make decisions on the spot is a talent. And I  _know_ you're talented. So come on!"

Adelaide's muscles stiffened as she listened, but it was only for a moment before she finally was able to sigh and smile. "Alright, then! If we're going in as a rescue party, we have to do it the smart way. I studied some maps of the mine while researching AVA. To get down into the mine, we need to approach it from the eastern side. Is that right, Mrs. Morue?"

"Y-yes, but that's the complete opposite side of the mine from where we are. Besides, if we really want Holly and Michael to be okay, shouldn't we do what they've told us-?"

"I know we should, but…" Adelaide cringed and shook her head. "Mazoku's intentions are never that simple and they're not known for treating hostages well. With Michael's condition, we can't afford to waste any time, but using our magic to fly into the mine would make us easy targets." She examined the sky for a moment, locating the few stars that had appeared so far. Once she had oriented herself, she pushed past both Pokota and Mrs. Morue, leaving the path and starting her way across the ridge.

Despite the lack of vegetation, trying to make their way through the rugged landscape in low light and without a path was difficult. Pokota took to flying directly over Lydia's head so that he could grab her immediately if she started to slip and fall. She gained more sure footing as she followed Adelaide, trying to keep up so that she could observe where Adelaide was putting her feet and copy those movements. Pokota could feel the tense atmosphere, so he kept his mouth closed. He needed to scan for potential problems anyway. As much as he trusted Adelaide's quick thinking, this was, well…  _quick thinking_. Pokota knew too well that making snap decisions always held a cost. He wasn't going to let that cost take anyone's life.

Eventually satisfied that Lydia could keep her balance, he flew forward and landed on the ground again to keep from drawing attention. Pokota scurried ahead of the group, examining the terrain and pointing the two women in the direction of the easiest path to walk. It was a system that worked well- that is, until Pokota crossed a particular ridge and began examining the terrain on the other side.

As he did so, he could feel himself being watched, and his plush fur stood up in alarm. Something had its eyes locked on him and was approaching with light, slow footsteps, and he frantically turned around to find the source. His eyes caught sight of a dark tan shape, similar to the surrounding rocks, moving quietly nearby. It was enough to alert him to the creature's presence, but it wasn't soon enough. The animal pounced and its jaws closed around Pokota as it pinned him against the hillside with a pair of rough paws.

Pokota screamed and flailed, trying to squirm out of the creature's grip. Its jaws stayed tightly clenched, and it took a step back, removing its paws from him so that it could shake him back and forth. The animal was panting and growling playfully, and Pokota's screams died down as he realized what it was and what was happening.

"H-h-hey! Let me go, dog! I'm not one of your chew toys-"

At this point, Adelaide and Lydia had crossed the ridge and run to Pokota's side, hearing his screams. Adelaide grabbed hold of Pokota's ears in an attempt to pull him free, but the dog took this as an invitation to play tug-of-war. Adelaide didn't let go, and Pokota was starting to worry that he was going to be ripped at the seams. But a voice from the direction the dog had come interrupted them.

" _Lucan, no! Drop it! That's not a- I said_ drop it!"

The dog immediately let go of Pokota and dashed off back in the direction of the voice. Pokota and Adelaide looked up with a simultaneous gasp as the dog's owner approached them.

"Lina?!"

* * *

Zelgadis carried Jaime on his back, the boy's arms crossed around his neck and his head resting on Zel's shoulder. Amelia smiled sweetly at them, but she didn't allow it as an excuse for them to move slowly. On the contrary, she led the way down the mountain path so quickly that Zelgadis actually had to jog at times to keep up with her. He wondered what kind of magic she used, that someone with such short legs could move so fast without even breaking into a run.

"Nii-nii," Jaime began, "why do we gotta go back to Senagra if it got destroyed?"

"It wasn't  _all_ destroyed," Zelgadis assured him. "There are people who are helping out there, and they might be in danger."

"Why?"

"There was some strange activity at the mine, and we don't know what it is."

"D'ya think it might be a monster?"

"Well, I think that depends on what you mean by  _monster_ , Jaime."

"Wha do you mean, whadda I mean?" Jaime tightened his grip on Zelgadis' shoulders. "A monster's a monster, right?"

Zelgadis knew Jaime couldn't see his face, but he forced a smile anyway, hoping that it came through in his voice. "It's true. But sometimes people can be monsters too."

"People get turned into monsters?"

"Well, yes, but…" Zelgadis paused. "...yes, people can be made to look like monsters. But sometimes people who look scary are actually good, and people who look normal can be monsters within."

Jaime sighed, pressing his cheek against Zelgadis' shoulder. "I don' get it."

"Of course you wouldn't- you're still too young. You haven't yet developed the abstract thinking skills necessary to conceptualize the difference between literal and figurative monsters."

"...I don' know what you just said either."

"Yes, Jaime. I didn't expect you to."

Jaime was quiet again, and so Zelgadis had to focus on catching up with Amelia. He scrambled down the path and fell into step behind her again, glancing down the hill beside them. They were going downhill, but he could see the path ahead of them sloping upward again as it made its way around the next ridge and disappeared.

"The copper mine starts around that next peak," Amelia spoke up, pointing out the mountain in front of them. "It's oriented northwest-southeast, with a slight curve to the north. Senagra is located just south of there."

"I see," Zelgadis nodded. "The path takes us around the mine to the east, then."

"Uh, not exactly. It does go a little into the mine's property before ending up in Senagra. That's what I wanted to warn you about." Amelia frowned, glancing around them for a moment and then turning back to Zelgadis and whispering, "That's why I was hesitant at first to take Jaime. Even if we're going to Senagra anyway, we have to cross mine property to do it, and there's no telling what's going on over there."

Jaime had settled with his head against Zelgadis' shoulder, his long, heavy breaths indicating that he'd fallen into a light sleep. Zelgadis sighed, but continued forward. "There's no helping it. And it's likely that whatever activity is going on is happening in the open pit area. We can-"

He was cut off by the sound of a blast to their right, and the ground shaking briefly beneath their feet. Jaime came awake with a jolt, his arms tightening around Zelgadis' neck.

"Wh-wha's happening?!"

"Don't panic, Jaime. It's alright." Zelgadis had to force his words out with Jaime squeezing his neck, but he didn't want to scold Jaime simply for acting out of fear. "I'll take Jaime to Senagra, Amelia. You go ahead to the mine and see what's going on. Lina and Gourry may already be there, and they need your help.

"Alright! Leave it to me!" Amelia nodded. "But be careful. The path stays on mine property for a while yet. If anything happens while Jaime is with you, stay on the defensive. Don't try to do anything reckless."

" _You_ telling  _me_ not to be reckless? When have I ever-" No. Zelgadis stopped himself before he could finish that question, lest Amelia actually answer it. "I mean, right. Jaime's safety is my top priority, don't worry."

* * *

Pokota and Adelaide looked up with a gasp.

"Lina?!"

"Adelaide? Pokota? What in the world are you two-" Lina began, but she cut off and grabbed the scruff of Lucan's neck as he inched toward Pokota again. "-I said  _no_."

Lucan reluctantly stayed by Lina's side, leaving Pokota where he was trying to brush the slobbery mud off of his fur. "What do you mean, what are we doing here?" He spoke up again. "Taforashia took in refugees from Senagra. We're here investigating the potential danger that the mine work is posing to the remaining villagers."

Lydia offered him a handkerchief- a polite gesture considering the harsh tone of her voice. "Right  _now,_ we're focused on rescuing Holly and Michael!"

"M-Michael?"

The woman who was with Lina and Gourry spoke up again, stepping forward with a frown. Adelaide didn't recognize her, but she did recognize the glint of worry in her eyes. "That's right," she replied, "Michael Belmote. Are you… his wife? Carmen?"

"Yes! What do you mean, rescue? Did something happen?"

Adelaide and Pokota winced and looked at each other, mentally fighting over who would have to explain. "He, uh," Pokota began, "was kidnapped by a Mazoku. He was trying to protect Mrs. Morue's daughter, Holly, from being taken, but the Mazoku got away with them both."

"Not only that, but he's injured and feverish," Adelaide added, not wanting to withhold anything. "Last night he tried to return to Senagra only to be attacked for trespassing on mine property. We took him to the hospital, but it seems like there's some kind of infection-"

" _Michael!_ " Carmen hissed under her breath, and everyone else stopped speaking. She sighed out her anger and continued with a more even tone. "For someone so shy, he's always doing what he wants, when he wants. There's no saying  _no_ to that man when he sets his mind to something."

Adelaide noticed Lina whisper to Gourry " _sounds like someone else we know_ ," but now wasn't the time to ask, and Carmen was still talking.

"What about Jaime? Who's watching him while Michael is here?"

Pokota froze, glancing over at Adelaide with an uneasy expression.

"Th-that's…"


End file.
